


Not to Yield Part Two: Ascension

by Springfieldbluebird



Series: Not to Yield [3]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-05-20 13:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14895609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Springfieldbluebird/pseuds/Springfieldbluebird
Summary: Part Two of the "Not to Yield" series. Caleb Jarrus, the fifteen-year-old Padawan of Ezra Bridger isn't perfect, but he's trying to be. This story details the struggle in Caleb's life as he tries to become the Jedi he was meant to be. It's probably best read after "Not to Yield." Not that it wouldn't stand on its own, but I recommend reading "Not to Yield" first.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! In this story Caleb Jarrus has grown up. He's now fifteen or sixteen, so this takes place about 7 years after the events in "Not to Yield." I hope you still love this story as much as I do. Please drop me a line, if you feel so inclined. I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter One

Caleb entered the little shop, hoping that he could find the meiloorun preserves that were his mom's favorite. When he, Ezra, Sabine and Zeb had left for the latest milk-run, she'd hinted around that she wanted some, and they had become so hard to find on Lothal that he really wanted to bring her some back.

They were on Queln, a lush green planet with beautiful lakes. Meilooruns grew well on the planet, so he knew that he had a good chance of finding the preserves.

The half-Twi'lek browsed the shelves as he walked through the store, reading the labels on the food.

"Hi."

He turned and saw a little girl standing behind him. She was short, no more than about seven. She wore a pink shirt and purple pants and green shoes. Caleb grinned, thinking she reminded him of Sabine.

"Hi." The teenager smiled back at her, then returned to browsing the shelves.

"What're you lookin' for?"

"Meiloorun preserves," he answered. "Have you seen any for sale?"

"Ummm…I dunno. Let me go ask." The girl ran to the front of the aisle and yelled to ask her grandma where they were.

A very old woman came slowly to the aisle. She was medium height, wearing a grey shirt with blue pants and had her long silver hair caught up in a braid. "Yes, yes we got a shipment yesterday." The lady reached out and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to steady herself before she began to search the top of the shelves. She began moving boxes, murmuring to herself as Caleb sensed sudden danger.

"Let me help with—" he began, but stopped as he saw the unbalanced boxes tilt then begin to tumble down on the unsuspecting elderly woman.

His reaction was automatic. He threw a hand out and both boxes stopped, in midair. They hung incredibly in space, causing the little blond girl's mouth to hang open with wonder.

Slowly as he lowered his hand, the boxes that had been about to come down on the old lady moved to hover and land between her and Caleb.

"Woah! Wizard!" The girl whispered, her eyes wide. "How did you do that?"

"You…can use the Force…" The old lady said, studying him with her twinkling blue eyes. "Now that's something I haven't seen in a long time."

"Umm…" Caleb looked around a little nervously. His lekku were stiff with tension. His master had taught him to be careful where and how he used the Force, due to the unexpected reactions of others. Most of the time, people had no need to know what he could do, even though the responses had been mostly positive so far. Only once or twice had a situation turned bad, and even then, he'd only been the victim of a few harsh stares of people who had believed the Emperor's lies about the Jedi.

Ezra had been forced to hide his Force abilities over half of his life, so Caleb understood his master's hesitation.

The lady placed a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, child. Before the Empire…I remember. I knew such good souls as you. They were called Jedi then. I had heard stories that some survived, but never thought I would see someone like you again."

"I'm just…glad to help." Caleb murmured, glancing to the girl who was still watching him with wide eyes.

The lady opened the boxes, rummaging around inside. "Here," she lifted out a jar of preserves. "This was what you were looking for, yes?"

He took them. "Yes, Ma'am. For my mother."

"Good. Take them." The elderly woman patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh no," he said, offering a cred chip. "I can't…"

"Take them," she said firmly, closing his hand back over his cred chip. "What is it they would say back then?" Her eyes twinkled as she remembered the phrase. "May the Force be with you," she said, then she laughed just like a girl. "It's wonderful to be able to say such things again." Satisfied, she turned to begin opening and stocking the items in the crate on the shelves, as if the matter was closed.

He went to the end of the aisle and looked over his shoulder at the little girl. Then he headed for the front of the store, knowing she'd follow.

She ran up beside him. "Are you a Twi'lek?"

"My mother was, so yeah." He replied with a smile. He was used to answering this question, and it rarely bothered him. Especially coming from someone so innocent. "My father was a human, though, so that's what's up with the hair."

"I think you're very handsome," she said, shyly.

"Awww. Thanks. Hey…Can you do me a favor?" He said, crouching as she stood in front of him.

"Okay," she nodded.

"Give this cred chip to your grandma after I've gone." He placed a chip in her palm.

She nodded, closing her hand over it. "Are you a Jedi? Gramma tells me stories sometimes…"

"One day, I hope to be," he said softly, walking backwards toward the door without looking at it. The seven-year old was suitably impressed. "May the Force be with you."

He stepped outside into the brilliant sunshine of a busy day on Queln. People hurried from place to place in the market square, doing their shopping or selling. Apparently, scenes like this did a lot to make Ezra happy as they traveled around the Rim. His master liked to see how life had mostly returned to how it had been on planets before the shadow of the Empire. He said it was proof that the universe would and could recover from what the Emperor had done to it. It was a sign of hope, that what they'd lost in the war had not been in vain.

As for Caleb, himself, he could hardly remember the war from personal experience, although he knew a lot about it due to his studies on the holonet and conversations with Zeb and Rex. He had a few memories of somewhere really cold, and lots of ships and pilots with the starbird on their helmets. Then there was Endor. He remembered the warm jungle planet because it had been so different than the place before…what was that planet? Hoth? Maybe that was it. He'd have to ask Ezra later.

His mother had been a pilot and General with the Rebellion, so he had grown up on bases with her, Zeb, Sabine and Ezra, until he was around six and the war ended. They had then moved to Lothal, which he had to say he liked the best out of all the planets they'd been to. Something about the wind waving over the grass and the stars at night, the affinity he had with the Loth-wolves and Loth-cats…it was beyond something he could explain. It was like he could feel the life-force of the planet, singing to him. Ezra was the only other person who understood how he felt. Sabine and his mother couldn't use the Force, so they didn't get it.

He began to make his way across the busy market, in the general direction of the spaceport. He went inside, walking through the cool, shadowed semi-darkness in the direction of their bay. He stopped to admire an old Kom'rk-class fighter, wondering what it would be like to fly it. He'd have to ask his mom. She'd flown just about every ship there was, it seemed.

Caleb tugged absently on the straps of his fight cap. He had taken after his mom, developing a love of flying early on. After the war, the Spectres had begun taking small shipping jobs, like his mom and dad had done before the war, back when Hera was undercover for Fulcrum, so Caleb had gotten to see a lot of the Outer Rim and many places in the Inner and Mid-Rim. He loved traveling to places that his mom and dad had gone in their younger days.

Kanan Jarrus had cast a long shadow over Caleb's life and the life of his family. He had been a remarkable man, according to almost everyone Caleb had met. As Caleb worked with Ezra to become a Jedi, he had realized that he'd only just begun to try and understand his dad. He'd met him once as a Force ghost. Somehow his father had come back from dying to see him when he was just seven…or was it eight? A lot of those days seemed blurry in Caleb's mind, but he'd never forgotten the gentle voice of the man who had set him on the path to becoming a Jedi.

As he grew up, he'd begun to realize that his father was a hero. A hero who had sacrificed himself to save not just the Spectres but all of Lothal. But being a hero was not the reason Caleb wanted to become a Jedi. Becoming a Jedi would allow him to help others, to do positive things in the universe to counteract the dark side and bring him one step closer to the father he had only known for a few minutes in that cave on Lothal.

Ezra was in their bay, working on one of the ramp's hydraulics as Caleb approached.

"Found them," the teen said, holding up the jar of preserves like a prize.

"Never thought you'd be able to find them here." Ezra said with a grin. The Jedi tossed Zeb a credit chip, settling their bet.

"Kit's got a little bit of his Uncle Zeb in him, I guess." Zeb grinned.

"You guys made a bet?" Caleb raised an eyebrow.

Ezra shrugged, and Zeb slung an arm around Caleb, using his big paw to ruffle the kit's hair. "Okay, kid. What's for dinner?"

"Don't call me kid, Zeb. Aren't you cooking tonight?"

"Yeah, but after Ezra's…'stew' last night, I figured you'd want a break from bad cooking." Caleb was a good cook, like Kanan had been, but Ezra had a bad habit of trying new recipes and failing spectacularly. Each failure however, never served to dampen Ezra's adventurous spirit. It was just too bad that they all had to suffer the consequences. Zeb's creations were iffy as well.

"Sabine cooked the first night out, so it's not her turn." Ezra called.

"Can we bring take-out back to the ship?" Caleb raised an eyebrow, looking from Ezra to Zeb hopefully. "Think Sabine'll go for that?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will," Ezra nodded.

"I've got first dibs on the shower," Zeb called, heading up the ramp.

"Great." Ezra muttered, "It's gonna smell like wet Lasat in there." He sighed comically, then took a seat on the _Ghost's_ ramp. Caleb came and sat beside him. After a few moments, they were joined by Sabine.

"Hey, Caleb," she said as she sat down beside them. "Did you find them?"

"Yes, he found them." Ezra answered, rolling his eyes in mock disgust. "Cost me 5 credits."

Caleb snickered with Sabine, then asked. "How long are we staying?"

"Couple of days." Sabine said. "Hera commed. We're picking up a shipment of dried bantha meat and taking it to Yavin 4. It's just a quick trip before we head back."

Caleb nodded. "Is she feeling any better?" His mother had not come along because she'd been sick with a cold. She also had a meeting with Ryder Azadi about upgrading and improving Lothal's planetary defense squadron.

"She said she was better."

"That's what she always says." Caleb knew his mom hardly ever stopped for anything; she'd even fought a war pregnant with him up until the last four weeks. Apparently, it was something his mother was legendary for. She'd flown with broken bones and blaster wounds. Dantari flu or concussions meant nothing when Hera Syndulla put her mind to it. So therefore, he worried about her.

"Well, we're all getting older, I guess. But she did look better. She's still going to her meeting with Ryder. Comm her a bit later; she wants to know how you're doing with your study of the ship's systems," Sabine said. She saw his frown, and was struck by how much he looked like Kanan when Kanan worried about Hera working too hard. "Hey, buddy. You really don't have to worry about her, you know?"

Caleb nodded, a little unconvinced as Sabine rubbed his shoulder.

Ezra stood up. "Well, I'm going to go get cleaned up. Maybe I can get Zeb moving a little quicker if he knows I'm waiting. You know what time it is, right?" He raised an eyebrow at Caleb.

"Yeah. Meditation practice." Caleb said. Ezra had always been surprised that he liked meditating as much as he did. He'd been a pretty active youngling, and Ezra had claimed that he always thought meditating would be hard for Caleb to settle down for. But it was easy, and he found that meditating during their journeys was fascinating. Each planet seemed to have its own relationship with the Force.

Ezra eyed the boy who stood up in front of him. Caleb had grown and was now just about able to look Ezra in the eye. He still had a bit to go, however, if he was going to be as tall as Kanan. The boy and his father had the same coloring. Except for Cale's lekku, the points on his ears and the smattering of green freckles on his nose, the kid most likely resembled Kanan at fifteen. It made Ezra feel sad, yet proud at the same time.

"What?" Caleb asked.

Ezra shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking how much you've grown." Ezra slung an arm around Caleb's shoulders and one around Sabine's shoulders and began to guide them back inside.

"Yeah. Mama thinks I'll be as tall as my father was." Caleb mused.

"That's probably true—he was always the tallest, except for Zeb." Ezra replied, as they entered the _Ghost_.

* * *

Caleb drifted in the Force's embrace for some time until something strange and unexpected happened.

It started like a tugging at the back of his mind. It was like the Force was a kid pulling at your sleeve or pant leg for attention. Then he began to sense the presence of another. The presence was different than Ezra's, different than any other Force user he had met.

He hadn't met many of them, to be honest. He'd met Luke Skywalker a few times, and then there was that old hermit they'd met on Chalacta. And Tarek, of course. Even though he'd been young when the darksider had taken him, he remembered the man's mental touch and golden eyes with an inward shiver. Sometimes he had bad dreams where he was still a helpless little kid and Tarek captured him and everyone he loved. Luckily, after so many years, those were few and far between.

But this…this was different. The presence was alternately glowing bright, then dim, like a Lumawing in springtime. It was an energetic, yet erratic presence that alternately drew his attention then faded into nothingness. He felt one last flare, as if someone had noticed him, then it faded away completely. They were either hiding or gone. He stayed within the Force, waiting to see if the brilliant glow would return, but there was nothing.

After a time, Ezra's voice brought him back from his meditation. "Everything okay?"

Caleb opened his eyes, one at a time. "Yeah…are you guys ready to go?"

Ezra nodded. "In just a minute. What's wrong?" The kid's curiosity plucked at his mind, like it was pulling at a stray thread that he couldn't find the end of.

"I just felt something strange when I was meditating. A presence…that flickered. It disappeared when I noticed it." Caleb unfolded himself from his meditation posture and stood up.

Ezra did a quick check, extending his Force-heightened senses out around them. "Hmm. I don't sense anything right now." Ezra wondered if it could be an untrained Force-sensitive. They'd run across them before-in the Force; they gave off a faint signature. There was no Jedi Order to find promising children and train them. As a result, a great many Force-sensitives might never know they were.

The Force plucked at Caleb gently for a moment before it finally settled. "I'll let you know if I sense anything else." His lekku curled thoughtfully as Ezra went on.

"We're going to have to check the parts shop while we're out. We've been getting a strange message from the fuel computer, and Zeb thinks we should try to replace a few sensors until we can get it home and let Hera check it. You have some schoolwork still to do, right?"

Because of their frequent trips around the Rim and Caleb's Jedi training, he attended virtual school over the holonet. He wasn't always that great about getting his assignments done, but when he was interested in a subject like Galactic History, he would show that his level was far above that of his peers.

Caleb nodded, letting out a sigh. "Yeah. Got any tips on how to learn all the ship's systems before we return? I mean I know them, but mom wanted me to get a good idea of what kinds of mods have been made to the different systems. She's gonna quiz me."

"Get Chopper to help. He knows the systems better than even Hera. The three of us will be back in a couple of hours. Want anything special for dinner."

* * *

The _Ghost_ 's systems and mods were confusing, but as Caleb studied them, he realized why. His mother and Chop had been flying the _Ghost_ since way before he was born; even before his mom had met his father. In all those years, the eccentric astromech had continually modified things; in some places he had adapted existing systems to make the Ghost faster, or bypassed certain safety systems. Caleb continued tapping on the datapad, now fascinated.

"Chop...wait! You disabled the safety protocol to allow for going to hyperspace from a planet's atmosphere? That's…that's really dangerous Chopper." Caleb's eyes widened as he took in the astromech.

Chopper beeped and whistled at him.

"Mom did that? Seriously?" He raised an arched eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that mom flew through an Imperial Construction Module and jumped to hyperspace from Lothal?"

Chopper rocked side to side on his struts, emphatically stating that GeneralHeraSyndulla had not done that particular maneuver in the _Ghost_ , but she had used the _Ghost_ for similar jumps from a planet's atmosphere on two other separate occasions when they were being chased by the Imperials.

"No karking way."

Chopper plugged into a nearby port and brought up the data to prove it; he grouched that if Caleb didn't believe him, he should analyze the information himself.

"Don't need to. It should be impossible…and to do that three times? Are you sure you haven't burned out a few circuits?"

Chopper threw up his manipulators and rolled off, frustrated with the teenager.

Caleb snickered at irritating Chopper, then went to the ship's comm and dialed up his mom. When her tiny holo appeared, Caleb smiled. "Hi, Mom. Feeling better?"

"Much better, love. Everything okay?"

"Sure. I just had to ask a question. I was going over the ship's systems when Chop told me you jumped into hyperspace from a planet's atmosphere three times, two of which were in the _Ghost_. He's pulling my leg, right?"

Hera shook her head with the twist of a smile on her lips. "Sorry, _keella_ , he's not lying this time."

Caleb heard what he thought was an indignant squawk from Chopper way back somewhere in the ship. "Woah, are you serious? There's like a bunch of reasons that's not possible or at least incredibly dangerous…"

Hera saw the look in her son's eye that seemed to say he was wondering if he could pull the same maneuver off. Her first desire was to scare him into never thinking about it again. But then she reminded herself how much her little daredevil had grown up. Perhaps she should address this as she would have with her student pilots during the war. "Caleb, the **only** reason a stunt like that should **ever** be pulled is if the alternative is worse than death. Most of the time a foolish maneuver like that has ended in tragedy. Since you are interested in this, research the consequences of jumping to hyperspace from atmosphere. We'll talk when you get back."

Caleb nodded. His mother had trained hundreds of pilots in her lifetime and he heard her "teacher voice" kick in. Being talked to like one of the pilots in her squadron made him sit up a little taller. "Yes, ma'am."

"And don't forget. If you EVER try something like that with MY ship…and you survive, I **will** kill you with my own two hands, Spectre Seven. That's a no-win scenario, sir."

Caleb grinned. "Okay, Mom."

"Very well. Where's everybody else?"

"Out getting dinner. They should be back any time. OH! And Zeb thinks there's something wrong with the fuel computer. Maybe a bad sensor. He and Ezra are going to check it out and replace some sensors to see if they can clear it up."

"Hmm…" He looked in her eyes and could tell she was itching to run a diagnostic. "Before they replace anything, get Chop to run a level three diagnostic on all sensors. They might have forgotten to do that first."

"I will, Mama." He looked over his shoulder, wondering suddenly why Chop had not come to gloat. "I better go check up on Chopper…he's probably mad at me."

"Okay, then. I'll see you in a few days. I love you, Caleb."

"Love you too. Specter Seven out." Caleb said. He shut off the comm and stood, trying to listen for Chopper, but he heard nothing.

"Chop?" He called, but there was no answer. Caleb made his way through the ship toward the cargo bay, peeking around corners. Chopper was known to get a little too handy with the shock prod when he was angry, so he didn't want to make himself too much of a target.

When he looked out into the cargo bay, he saw a silent Chopper. A small hooded form hovered over him, nimble fingers working at the droid's chassis.

"Hey!" Caleb yelled, "What are you doing to my droid?!" How had they gotten into the locked cargo bay?

The person looked up, face hidden in the black hooded jacket they wore. As Caleb leaped over the railing, the being yanked Chopper's memory core and began to run.

Caleb landed with one hand grazing the ground to steady himself. "Stop!" He began to pursue, using the Force to sense the direction of travel as the person tried to disappear into the crowd of people who were hurrying to destinations in the spaceport. Immediately, he recognized the Lumawing-like Force signature from earlier in the day.

He lost sight of the thief, but the Force led him to make a left, then a right. He hit his comm, never stopping. "Master…someone, maybe a Force-sensitive, stole Chop's memory core! I'm in pursuit."

Ezra's voice came back immediately. "On our way, Seven. Stay with them, and be careful."

"I will." He cut the comm and narrowed his eyes as he refocused on his run. They would NOT get away with stealing Chopper. He wouldn't let them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. I originally had no plans to post yet, but then when I reread what I had, I realized we'd come far enough to post and it was much better than I first thought. Of course, you'll be the judge of that. I'd love to hear from you! I was really busy before school ended for the summer, but now I'm hoping to have plenty of time to respond to comments. :)

* * *

Chapter 2

"No…no…no." Caleb paused in the middle of the hallway. He'd lost sight of the black jacketed form in the crowd. He turned around in a complete circle, then closed his eyes. Refusing to let panic overtake him, he drew the Force toward him and then sent his senses out once more, looking for the Luma-wing-like Force signature, and he found it. There—in the storage areas.

Caleb followed the figure into the dimly lit cargo areas. He pursued the figure through several rows of storage containers until they came to a back wall—a dead end. He was able to see more details now as he drew closer. The person was dressed in high boots, and black pants. They also wore a backpack.

The person threw a high kick at him, which grazed his cheek. Caleb returned with a punch that likewise grazed the head of his assailant. They went back and forth a moment, trading blows. Then the black dressed figure retreated a bit, sizing him up.

"Give it back, and I'll let you go." Caleb said.

In reply, the figure drew a vibro-blade and threw it.

The Force warned him ahead of time. Caleb called a saber into each hand and deflected the blade harmlessly into the wall. "Okay, so it's like that, huh? You didn't bring the right kind of blade to this fight." His crossed blue sabers glowed in the darkness as the figure continued to back away at his approach, finally hitting the wall. The hood fell back and he was surprised to see that the thief was a teal-haired girl, barely a teenager. Hunger had carved her lean face into sharp angles. Her brown eyes that had been glaring at him were now showing surprise and fear.

There was another vibro-blade in her hand but she was not using it—she was staring at his blades instead. "You're a…a kriffing Jedi?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. Give up. There's no way you're taking the memory core."

"Frack me," she muttered, glancing from side to side, looking for an escape. Then, Caleb sensed an unusual thing. She was drawing the Force to her. The accumulated power wobbled around her as it increased. He lowered his own crouch to create a more-stable center of gravity, in case she planned to come for him. He also began to draw upon the Force as well as so to be ready. But she didn't come for him. First, she slung her vibroblade in his direction (but not directly at him, he noticed) then she sprung straight up at least twelve feet and landed, albeit shakily, on a column of suspensor crates. Then she was off racing across them.

"Karabast!" Caleb gathered himself and made the same leap and began jumping from stack of crates to stack of crates, following the teal-haired girl.

She was moving fast, but in her panic, she'd only managed to make her way deeper into the cargo area. Caleb felt her realize her mistake, and just as she was about to make a jump to curve her way back toward the exit, she misjudged and fell off a 12-foot stack of crates with a yelp.

The fall was too quick for him to stop it with the Force. He disengaged his lightsabers as he reached her row, then leaped down. She was lying on the ground motionless. Chopper's core had rolled out of her jacket and landed near his feet, so he took it. Then he knelt beside her, sensing that she'd cracked her head on one of the crates on the way down. Her hair was darkened with blood. Now that she wasn't slinging vibroblades at him, he had a chance to see that she was a little older than she looked…probably closer to his own age.

_Cale_? He felt Ezra reach out with the Force through their bond.

_I'm here. End of the cargo bay._

In a few moments, Ezra, Zeb, and Sabine appeared at the end of the row. They came over quickly.

"She fell by accident and hit her head." Caleb said as he smoothed her hair away from the scrape in her scalp that was oozing blood. The girl groaned and her eyelashes fluttered just a little as she surfaced, then sank back down in sleep.

"This is the thief?" Zeb asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's just a kit."

"She knew how to fight," Caleb said, wiping at his face.

Ezra knelt beside the girl. His multi-colored gaze traveled over the girl's black hooded jacket with the frayed cuffs, the oversized pants with rips in her knees and the lean look of her face. She had to be a street rat, much like he'd been himself at that age. "She was probably lifting parts to sell for food." Ezra murmured, almost to himself.

"Can we…do something for her?" Sabine asked. She could feel Ezra's sadness. They'd run into orphans all over the galaxy and they always took him back to his own struggles on the streets of Lothal as a child. Sometimes the kids allowed him to buy them a meal or even a coat, but many times the kids were too suspicious of good deeds to stick around for long. He simply kept a stash of warm clothes and ration packs on the _Ghost,_ just in case he found someone to help. It reminded Sabine of the runs the _Ghost_ would make to Tarkintown. Ezra had never forgotten the lesson that Hera and Kanan had taught him about helping others, and she loved him for it.

"Well, we can patch her up at least." Zeb said.

"Yeah," Ezra nodded. "And maybe give her a meal, if she'll stay around that long."

Zeb gathered the half-conscious girl into his arms and carried her as they made their way back to the _Ghost_.

"You okay?" Sabine wrapped an arm around Caleb as they walked. He had a cut over one eye, but it wasn't bad.

"Yeah. She threw some blades at me."

Ezra raised an eyebrow at him, showing concern.

"Oh, it was okay. I deflected them. She was really surprised to see the lightsabers." Caleb brushed a hand over the hilt of his father's lightsaber at his right hip, and then his own lightsaber at his left.

"I'm glad you're okay." Ezra murmured. "You showed restraint in dealing with her, which fits in with the code. I'm proud of you."

"Guess she messed with the wrong Padawan." Sabine said, bumping his shoulder with her fist before following Zeb and Ezra back to the ship.

* * *

Phaedra woke from a dream where her mother was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't seem to hear her. Slowly by degrees she came back to herself, unsure of where she was. First there was an ache in her head, then a pain in her knee on her right side. She kept her eyes closed tightly and her breathing steady as she listened to the words around her. If they were going to turn her in, she needed to know so she could escape at the first chance.

"Medscanner says that it's only a minor head injury." There it was. The younger voice of the Force-user she'd fought with earlier. He didn't sound angry, however. He sounded concerned.

"So, what's the treatment for that?" A new voice.

"Rest, and pain medications if there's a headache," he replied, as if reading off of a screen. Well, that didn't sound like they were trying to kill her.

"Good. Check her knee."

There were some soft beeping sounds. "Dislocated kneecap."

"I think she's awake." This voice was female.

The jig was up. She opened her eyes to find she was lying on a bunk. She was on her back, and she felt a gentle touch on her knee and her shoulder, keeping her laying down. "You'll hurt yourself if you move," the man's voice instructed her.

The man looking down at her was unfamiliar. Sizing people up was second nature to a street rat like herself so she looked him over. He had black hair, and there was a scar down his face, over his eye and down his cheek. His eyes were two different shades of blue, which made her think that the injury causing the scar might have caused damage to the discolored eye. The kind look she saw in his face, however, made her feel safe enough to look at the other occupants of the room.

The Twi'lek who'd fought her was standing by her knee and there was a purple-haired woman dressed in black in the room. Then there was a tall purple alien by the door. Yeah, she was definitely outnumbered. As she surreptitiously felt her sides, she realized that her vibroblades were gone, and she was now unarmed. There was no telling where her backpack had gotten to.

She moved her leg a little and groaned. "Ah! You weren't kidding."

"Told you to stay still," the older man said. "My name's Ezra Bridger. This is Caleb, Zeb and my wife Sabine. We're here to help you. What's your name?"

All her aliases flitted through her mind and slipped through her fingers as she tried to grab onto one of them. "Phaedra Alata," she said finally, giving them her real name, and then kicking herself for it. "Um…What happened?"

"You fell while you were running away," Caleb said, "after you stole our droid's memory core."

"And after you threw a couple of vibroblades at my kit, here." The Lasat standing behind Caleb said with a slight frown as he laid a hand on Caleb's shoulder.

Phaedra winced at remembering that, and she opened her mouth to explain, but the man named Ezra drew her attention. "Okay, Phaedra, Caleb's gonna switch places with me. I want you to squeeze his hand while I slip your kneecap right back into place. It's probably gonna hurt like hell, so feel free to curse like a Hutt. It'll help." He switched places with Caleb, then began to gently manipulate Phaedra's leg.

"Hi." Now the good-looking Twi'lek was watching her. She noticed that he had little green freckles that matched his lekku, which she had to admit was attractive. "He's good at this, so you're in good hands." Caleb reached out to her and she surprised herself by taking his hand. There was just something about him that made her trust him.

"H-how do you know he's good at this?"

Caleb just smiled.

Ezra gingerly pushed the girl's cargo pants up above her rapidly swelling knee. "Wait…" she said in a trembling voice, trying to steady herself. "Give me a second."

"It'll be okay." Caleb said, reassuringly.

"So…uh…is this a good time to say I'm sorry for taking your droid's core? And hurting your cheek?" She was obviously half-teasing and half-wanting to get the apology out before they messed with her leg.

He could feel her hand trembling in his own, and he ran his thumb over the back of it. "It's gonna be okay. Just take a deep breath and hold it."

Ezra waited a moment more, then broke the kids' staring silence. "Phaedra, on 3, okay? One, two…"

On two, Ezra did something to Phae's knee that caused silver shards of pain to shoot up her leg and she yelled, "Mother-karking-son of-a-bantha!" She was squeezing Caleb's hand tightly. "Holy karking hells!"

"They never wait till three." Caleb said with a grin. "It's better that way."

Phae took a big breath and opened her eyes. She nodded as the teenage boy helped her sit up.

"I'll wrap your knee so the swelling will stay down." Ezra began to work on her knee, wrapping a pressure bandage around it.

Ezra glanced up at her several times, and she realized that he was sizing her up as much as she'd sized him up. All of a sudden, she felt self-conscious of her ripped jacket with the dirty cuffs, worn baggy pants and her old boots. She clenched her fists to hide her chewed fingernails and looked up challengingly.

"So, what's your angle?" She looked from Ezra to Sabine, then to Caleb. For now she ignored the Lasat in the room. Frankly, he was a little too intimidating to face at the moment with his comments from earlier.

"Huh?" Caleb asked.

Ezra nodded to himself and smiled slightly. "She wants to know why we helped her after she tried to steal our droid's memory core." He turned to her, fixing her with his odd stare. "There are lots of things you don't know about us, but the first thing you should know is that we don't hold grudges."

She glanced at Caleb, then looked at Ezra's waist, saw his lightsaber and her eyes narrowed. Two lightsaber-wielding Force-users. Great. "I'm just trying to…get along, okay? You looked to me like you might not miss it. My mistake. I didn't know you…could use the Force and all. My mom…" She trailed off, then shook her head. "Look. I know you're like me…too young to have been real Jedi." If the older one was a Jedi, he'd never admit to it anyway.

Ezra bowed his head as he secured the bandage. "What were you going to say about your mother?"

She looked guarded at Ezra's interest. "Um…well, it doesn't matter. She's…she died. I…probably should go. Like I said, I'm sorry. I never meant…" She trailed off, her mother's voice echoing in her mind. _Sweetheart, Phae…if you ever run across another Jedi…_ She glanced up at Ezra nervously. No. Trusting him would be foolish. A dwarfnut idea at best. Her mother hadn't known…

"I gotta go." Abruptly, she pushed Caleb to the side and tried to stand up.

"Wait-" Caleb said. As she stood and her leg gave out, he caught her in his arms. She groaned with the pain as both Ezra and Caleb helped her back on the bed.

"You need some rest." Ezra said, taking control of the situation.

The girl hissed with pain as she rearranged her hurt leg on the bed. "Okay," she said clenching both fists.

Sabine stepped forward, taking Ezra's place at her bedside. "Phaedra, I'm going to give you this anti-inflammatory pain reliever." She showed the girl the hypospray. "It will bring down the swelling in your knee and help with the pain. It'll get you up and around quicker, which is what I think you want."

Phaedra nodded; her leg hurt too much to argue. "Okay."

"It might make you just a little sleepy, but that's okay. You can sleep." Sabine added.

Settling back against the bulkhead and pillow, the girl winced at readjusting her leg, then nodded.

"How's your head feeling?"

"I'm a little dizzy." Phaedra said. "It's sore."

"This will help with that too." Sabine estimated the girl's weight, realizing how thin she was, and gave her an adequate dosage while Ezra moved to finish wrapping her knee. "Look. Have dinner with us later." Sabine asked.

"Seriously? You're asking the thief that broke into your ship and stole your droid's memory core to dinner?" She raised an eyebrow, shaking her head. "You guys are crazy. Hey, but don't get me wrong…I like crazy, especially if there's food involved."

Sabine fluffed some pillows and helped her get comfortable.

"I know you have no reason to really trust us, but you can trust in this. We won't let any harm come to you." Ezra said.

"I still don't get it, but okay," Phaedra nodded, lying back as the medicine kicked in.

"She's stayin'. Come on Sabine, let's get dinner set-up. Caleb can watch our 'guest.' I'll come get you two when we're ready." Zeb turned to leave the Ghost's medbay and Ezra and Sabine followed.

* * *

"Hey. Um…sorry about earlier."

Caleb glanced up. Phaedra had closed her eyes for a few minutes, so he'd figured she was sleeping. He'd been in a light meditation when she spoke and it startled him. "Oh. Yeah. It's okay. It's just that Chopper's not just a droid. He's…like family, so I had to get him back."

"Family, huh?" Her eyebrow quirked up. "Had him a long time?"

"My mom had him since she was a kid." Caleb said. "Chopper flew a Y-Wing in the Clone Wars, crashed on my mom's home planet and she rebuilt him."

"Droids like that one are antiques. Maybe you should keep a better eye on him." Phae raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe." Caleb said, measuring her with his gaze.

"So. The guy…Ezra…is your father?"

Caleb shook his head. "No. He's my Jedi Master." Coming out with it felt natural. She'd seen his lightsabers after all.

She smirked and let out a laugh. "You're fracking with me. Wait, you're serious?"

He nodded.

She took stock of him, as if weighing his words. "I thought the Jedi were all dead."

"Not all of us," Caleb murmured. "You should sit back and rest."

"How's your cheek?" She asked gently, glancing over his face. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. Usually, she lifted stuff from people and never saw their faces. She tried to only take from people who looked like they could afford to lose it, and usually was so good she never had to face them. She was surprised to find that she felt remorseful to realize she'd attempted to rob such obviously good people.

He reached up to brush the spreading bruise with his fingers. "It'll be fine," he replied. "I hit you in the head…uh…before you fell so I guess we're even?"

"Sure…even," she said, smiling sleepily. She could feel the warm comfortableness of the medication soothing the throb in her head and the ache in her leg. "You're a good fighter. You'd be able to handle yourself on the street." She yawned.

He looked up at her, wondering if that was where she lived. Was she like Ezra, who had grown up with no family on his own, living on the streets of Lothal, until he met Kanan and Hera? Caleb felt sympathy for her. "Yeah. You weren't so bad yourself," he said gently. He could tell from her eyes and her Force signature that she was feeling the medication Sabine had dosed her with. She was no longer a bright flutter of a Luma-wing in the Force, full of nervous energy, but merely a soft glow. "You can sleep, if you want."

"Nope." She widened her eyes, trying to appear awake. "Gotta stay on my toes."

He took her hand again in both of his. It was clean, but callused, like his own. Her nails were short and blunt. She had strong hands that knew hard work and struggle, and he respected that. "Phaedra," he began, feeling her name on his tongue like some strange new language, "You're safe here. We won't let anything happen to you, okay? Trust me."

He saw her brown eyes, so much like Sabine's, soften and the tension in her face eased. "Okay." Her eyes fluttered. "I do believe you."

"Good." He murmured, keeping her hand enclosed between his own. "Sleep for a little bit." He waited long moments, until her breathing slowed and her eyes drifted closed. Then he placed her hand on the bed, as if it were a valuable object he'd been given, and went for the door.

* * *

"You're sure she's a Force-sensitive?" Sabine asked Ezra. Zeb had gone back to get dinner. They'd been about to order when they'd gotten Caleb's comm call.

"Yeah. I can feel it." Ezra sat down at the Dejarik table and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I wonder what her story is?" Sabine murmured.

"I don't know. She won't talk to us until she trusts us; that's the trick." Ezra said, yanking out his hair tie, raking a hand through his hair, then tying it back again.

"Yeah, she's a tough one no doubt." Sabine agreed thoughtfully. "She reminds you of…you, huh?"

Ezra looked up at Sabine and then back down. He sighed and took her hand in his. "Yeah. In a lot of ways."

Caleb appeared in the hallway and made his way to them. He slid into the booth beside Sabine. "Where's Zeb?" the teen asked. Ezra had the feeling that Caleb had something else on his mind and was just asking to have something to say.

Sabine answered, "He went to get dinner. We never had the chance to order. Hungry?" She tilted her head and checked out the bruise on his cheek.

"Yeah." Caleb said, glancing to Ezra. Sabine could tell that they were communicating in that silent way they had.

"Go ahead." Ezra murmured.

"She's asleep. I…uh…I think she's homeless." Caleb said, a worried expression creasing his forehead.

"Did she say that?" Ezra asked.

"No…not really. It's just…a feeling I have."

"I think you're probably right," Ezra said.

"You know from experience," Caleb replied, as Ezra looked up at him, then nodded.

"A lot of kids out there were orphaned in the chaos of the Rebellion. She could be another one." He could see the worry in Caleb's eyes and the unasked question. _How do we help her?_ "Look. We'll do all we can for her. I sense it too."

"What?" Sabine asked.

"Something in the Force. Pulling us to Phaedra and Phaedra to us," he looked at Caleb. "Why don't we try to meditate on it?" He glanced to Sabine. "Call us when Zeb's back with dinner."

Sabine nodded. "I'll work on Chop until Zeb comes back if someone will lift him up here. I want to keep an eye on the door." She pointed in Phaedra's direction. They'd put her in Caleb's quarters.

"I'll get him." Caleb said. In a moment, he was back with the silent droid hovering through the air, setting him near the Dejarik table. Caleb smirked. "Are you sure you want to fix him, Sabine? Don't you kind of like him this way? He's a lot quieter."

Sabine began to laugh. "I won't tell him you said that."

"Thanks." Caleb said over his shoulder as he followed Ezra into his and Sabine's cabin.

They both took a seat on the oversized meditation mat as the door slid closed behind them. "Don't try too hard." Ezra encouraged. "Just open up your mind to the Force and float with it."

"Okay." Caleb nodded, allowing his eyes to drift closed and his mind to float free as the Force surged around them.

* * *

Sabine had checked the rest of Chopper's chassis for damage, but he was fine. She cleaned all the connectors on his memory core, then slipped it back in. She was leaning over Chopper, turning him back on, when she suddenly had to leap back and away from the astromech's shock prod. "Woah, Chopper! It's me! It's me!"

Chopper retracted his shock prod and began squawking angrily and rocking back and forth on his struts.

"What in the Ashla? Chop, do I need to pull your battery?" Zeb rumbled as he came into the galley and put the takeout food on the counter.

Chopper grumbled indignantly, and quieted.

"Where's everyone?" Zeb said, coming over.

"The guys are meditating and the girl, Phaedra, is sleeping. And Chopper is complaining." She gestured to their grumpy astromech who rolled off to the cockpit, grumbling the whole way.

"I'll go wake the girl. I can carry her in here to eat, if she's up for it," the Lasat said, heading that way.

He knocked, then listened. Then he knocked softly again. "We have food, kit."

"C-come in." she said.

He keyed the lock and entered, seeing the sleepy girl sitting up in bed, wide-eyed and trying to figure out what was going on. She backed up against the bulkhead as Zeb stood in the doorway. "W-where's C…Caleb?" she asked.

"He's meditating with Ezra. I'll get them in just a minute. I'm here to see if you feel up to coming to the table."

"Um…" she looked down at her leg.

"I'll carry you, kit. I know you must be hungry."

"Yeah," she whispered, her stomach growling.

Zeb came over and leaned down. "Just put an arm around my neck and I'll put an arm under your legs. Real easy carry."

She did it and let out a soft little cry when he picked her up. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, his green eyes searching her face with concern. She didn't weigh hardly anything, and he thought he'd been gentle enough.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "It's...ok. I'm good." He'd actually jostled her knee just a little, but it wasn't bad. "Don't worry."

The Lasat's fur was soft and warm under her fingers. He carried her gently into the ship's common area and set her in the booth, turned sideways with her leg propped up on the seat. "How's that?" he asked.

"Good." Phaedra said, looking around. Her stomach growled and she put a hand on it and blushed.

Sabine brought her something wrapped in a napkin. "Have a roll." She handed Phaedra a huge fluffy roll of bread bigger than anything she'd had in a long time. "Dinner will be ready in a minute. I'll go in and get Ezra and Caleb." The bread was warm and soft, like a cloud as she bit into it. She took another bite and began to chew quickly as she watched Sabine walk over to a cabin and knock. The door slid open, and from where she was sitting Phaedra could see the back of Ezra's head, and over his shoulder, Caleb's bowed head and closed eyes. Something about their posture…sitting on their heels, back straight, head bowed slightly…brought back a memory to the forefront of her mind…

* * *

_"Mama…I'm bored," she whispered. Her mother had told her to always be quiet when she was meditating, but it was too quiet for Phae, except for the constant "boom, boom" of the music in the tiny apartment below. She'd tried to sit back on her own heels, be still and meditate herself, like her mother, and hope that something would happen, but nothing ever did and the novelty had worn off._

_Her mother sighed deeply and opened her rich brown eyes, which regarded Phae with love. "Okay, come here, sweetheart." She held her arms open and her tiny five-year old ran to them._

_"What are you trying to do?" Phae asked, leaning back in the protective circle of her mother's arms enough to run her hand over her mom's cheek. "Why do you sit still so long?"_

_"Because it's the only way to find out what I need to know."_

_"I don't understand," she said, her face crinkling up._

_Her mother looked at her gently and reached out for a strand of her blond hair, twisting the spun gold in her fingers. "It's very complicated, little love." Phae sighed contentedly as her mother ran soft fingers through her hair. "Baby, I have something I have to tell you, but you can never tell anyone else. Never, Phae. It's like the Force…only you and I can talk about it."_

_Phae raised her head and nodded solemnly. "Does it have to do with the bad man?"_

_Maia nodded. "It does. I'm afraid he is coming here soon."_

_Phae felt her stomach clench into knots. The bad man would try to hurt them again. He'd come before, and tried to take Phae away from her Mama. But Mama had fought back with her sword. The yellow glow of it had shone in the darkness, pushing back the red of the bad man's sword. Then the bad man had fallen a long way and she and Mama had run. But now…now he was back? After falling so far? She shuddered. "I won't tell anyone, Mama." She promised, holding out her pinky. Her mom took it with her own pinky and they shook._

_"Okay. Remember how I told you about the Force? How it flows through all of us, but some of us can feel it more than others?"_

_"Yes, Mama," she nodded._

_"Well, there were some of us who were trained to feel the Force. We were called Jedi, sweetheart. Once…there were a lot of us…but there just aren't anymore. If…if something happens to me…and you ever meet another Jedi…you go to them, Phae. Tell them about me. They'll help you because you have that same gift." She cradled Phae's face in her palm, then leaned forward and kissed her on the top of her head. "Don't forget."_

_"I won't Mama." She was starting to cry now, big tears that rolled down her cheeks. "I won't forget."_

* * *

And after that they had run. Run until they were caught by the evil Jedi.

Phae's eyes were far away when Ezra entered the room, followed by Caleb. She blinked rapidly and looked up into Ezra's bi-colored gaze.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, his voice gentle.

She nodded, taking a big shaking breath. Then her words came out all at once. "Prove to me you're a Jedi." As soon as she said it, she bit her lip as if she could take the words back. She took another bite of the fluffy roll, thinking she might not talk so much with her mouth full.

Ezra paused a moment and considered how best to respond. Apparently, there was something Phaedra was wrestling with. He pulled up a chair and sat. "What evidence do you need, Phaedra? Should I make something float through the air?"

She swallowed while shaking her head. "No. Bad Jedi can do that too."

Ezra nodded. "They can. What do you know about them?" He asked. From his vantage point, he couldn't see Sabine and Zeb out of his damaged eye, but he saw Caleb moving closer.

"They hated the real Jedi-the…the good ones. They hunted them and anyone else who could use the Force. To kill them or make them turn to the dark side."

"Phaedra. Someone tried to do this to you?"

"I'm not answering that. Prove to me that you're a Jedi first."

Ezra reached to his waist and pulled his lightsaber. He set it on the table between them and regarded it for a moment. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a laser sword. The bad Jedi have those too."

"They were called Inquisitors." Caleb murmured, sliding into the booth across from Phaedra.

"We called them redblades too." Ezra said.

With a motion of his hand, Ezra's lightsaber rose into the air, then slowly began to come apart before their eyes, until the vibrant green of Ezra's kyber crystal lit the room. He reached up and plucked it from the air.

"A kyber is the heart of a Jedi's blade. Mine is green. My master's was blue. Dark side users have only red blades."

Phaedra's eyes were huge as she heard the soft singing sound coming from Ezra's crystal. She'd heard it only once before."Why red blades?"

"Because at heart, kybers are Light. But when a Dark one tries to twist a kyber to his use, the crystal bleeds red." Ezra's eyes reflected the green of the crystal he now held in his fingers.

"My mother's sword was a pale yellow." Phaedra said.

Ezra nodded. "So, your mother **was** a Jedi." It was a statement rather than a question. While Ezra waited for a reply, he reassembled his blade and let it come to rest on the table.

Phaedra nodded. "She…she was. The redblade…the Inquisitor killed her." Her voice faded to a harsh whisper.

"Oh, sweetheart." Sabine murmured. She reached over the booth and laid a hand on Phaedra's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

She looked up, eyes wide with alarm. "My mother told me not to mention any of it to anyone, except a Jedi." She shifted her frightened eyes to Ezra. "Someone took…my mother's lightsaber. It…it was all I had of her, and I want it back. Can you help me?"

Ezra nodded immediately, and the Force seemed to echo _yes, yes yes_. "Phaedra Alata, we'll help you. I give you my word as a Jedi. Please…tell us about your mother…"

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry that it took me a while to get this up. I've had a busy couple of weeks. Please let me know if you enjoyed this one.

3.

**THEN**

Maia Alata led her child into the room they'd rented and glanced around, feeling her stomach clench at the bareness of it. There was one bed, barely big enough for them both, and a threadbare blanket thrown over it. The one strip of lighting that still worked was on the far side, throwing the rest of the room into shadow. There was a window that probably didn't open which looked over the street below. As she walked to it, she caught a glimpse of herself in the transparisteel.

She looked as tired and worn as she felt. There were dark shadows under her eyes and her long blond braid was disheveled. She pressed the button that would shade the window and turned to regard her daughter. Poor Phae wasn't much better than she was. Her blond curls stood up in whirls and spirals like the waves of a stormy ocean. She sleepily dragged a backpack with her that was almost as big as she was. She'd been asleep on the transport, while Maia watched out for them both.

Maia set her black duffel bag against the wall and took Phae's backpack to set it beside her own. She didn't unpack their belongings in case they had to leave quickly.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" she asked. Phae was standing in the middle of the room, looking around with large brown eyes. The mother knelt in front of her little one and reached up to push her child's unruly curls out of her face. Through the Force, she could feel Phae's fear trembling—she was like a snowflake caught in a spiderweb.

"Nooo. I don't like this place, mama." A big tear ran down her cheek, followed by more. She sniffled as Maia wrapped both arms around her.

"I'm so sorry." Maia kissed her on the side of the head. She held Phae as she wordlessly wept. When the girl had cried herself out, Maia picked her daughter up and set her gently on the bed. "It's going to be okay. I promise," she said, wiping the tears from her daughter's cheeks.

"Time…time for pajamas?" Phae asked in a watery voice.

"No, sweetie. Just take off your boots, in case…" _In case the boogeyman finds us_ , Maia thought, "in case we have to leave quickly."

Phae understood. "You mean if the bad Jedi finds us," she said, fists clenched. Her eyes darkened.

Maia nodded, not trusting her voice as she bent her head to work out the knots in Phaedra's bootlaces. Her vision blurred, and she tried to blink away the teardrops. She carefully shielded her thoughts so that Phae wouldn't pick up on her sorrow.

When she'd finally gotten the laces unknotted, a rumble ran through the room as the furniture trembled. Maia looked up at her daughter and saw that Phaedra's fists were clenched and her eyes were squeezed shut. "I hate him," she said through clenched teeth. "I hate him, I hate him." Little earthquakes of Force energy ran through the room as her daughter's anger grew and her brown eyes flashed.

"Stop," Maia pleaded. "Don't do that, Phae, please." She reached up and placed her hands on both sides of Phaedra's face, pulling the girl's eyes to hers. "I'm here. You're safe right now. All…you need to do…is sleep. Let your anger go into the Force." They'd been having trouble again with her self-control. When they'd first began to run, Phaedra tried to hide everything from her daughter, but when her child began to demonstrate a strong ability with the Force, she'd had to teach Phae some self-control techniques, and explain a few basics about the Force.

"I'm sorry, Mama." Phaedra began to relax as her mother began flooding her with the light side of the Force. "I just get…real mad."

"I know, little love. Sleep." Slowly she lowered Phaedra down to the mattress and pillow. She remained, kneeling beside the bed.

"Mama…" Phae tried to speak, but she began losing the thread of wakefulness and with her mother running a hand through her hair, she dropped completely into sleep.

After a time, Maia stood up and looked through her bag. It was the work of a moment to find what she was looking for, hidden in a pocket of her duffel. She took it and went into the small 'fresher.

With the knife in her right hand and her braid in her left, she cut through the hair with a sudden firm motion. She looked into the mirror as her hair fell around her chin, but in her mind, she saw a sudden flash of her life, many years earlier, in the temple. She saw her Master, Tren Vevan standing in front of her and severing her Padawan braid with his lightsaber after she'd passed her trials. She had moved her hand up to feel the short cut strands in her fingers, just like she was doing now. Maia had been so much younger then, she thought, looking down at the golden braid of hair in her hands. She would have to dye it tomorrow. Changing her appearance might help them stay under the sensors.

Her thoughts drifted back to the past. What would Master Vevan think about her now, she wondered as she fingered the short hair around her face. She missed his gentle wisdom, and the reassurance he'd always provided. His steady presence would guide her in the right direction, were he here with her. But that could never be. He hadn't been wise enough to see what was coming, and she'd felt him die at the hands of the 501st, while she fought her own battle to survive.

The Jedi Purge had taken everything from her. Now, she was walking a path she'd never imagined-her life on the run was very different from life in the temple. For a long time, she'd been lost-hiding in plain sight, moving from planet to planet with the tides of refugees uprooted by the Empire. It had been easy to stay unnoticed because no one asked questions of a dirty, tired refugee. Most people just wanted them to move on. She worked many different jobs—a mechanic, a body guard—pretty much anything she could make money doing.

Eventually, a night of drinking to excess and a bad decision led to being told she was pregnant by a meddroid on Aksen Prime.

She wouldn't have called Phaedra an accident-nothing in the Force was by accident, (she believed it with all her heart) but she hadn't planned on bringing a child into the world with the kind of life she lived, but when she'd felt that spark inside of her, and realized her child was strong with the Force, there was no question she was going to have the baby. And after Phae was born, despite Jedi tenants, Maia had been attached to her. Phae had been a good child from day one and Maia loved her fiercely.

The former Jedi found that she was now standing over the bed, watching her daughter sleep. She didn't even remember leaving the 'fresher. She reached out and smoothed her daughter's curls again and listened to her sleepy murmur. _Emotion, yet peace_ , she thought. _Death, yet the Force._ What would happen if she were to die and leave Phaedra alone? She had thought about it often, but there was no good answer. She could trust no one with her daughter and their secret. No one.

She turned off the light, then moved to the window. After a moment, she sat on her heels in the dark, stretching out her senses to see if she could feel danger stalking them in the night. Was the Inquisitor scouring the last planet they were on to see which way they had gone? Or had he landed on this planet already? He had followed them to each planet they'd stopped at, despite her precautions—he kept the scent like a rathtar pack on the hunt. She'd thought him dead at the last place they'd met him, but he'd survived a fall from a cliff after a lightsaber battle.

She lost herself in the safety and warmth of the Force as she sought answers. And as the night passed, the Force passed in swift currents. She let it sweep her into the depths, losing herself in the waters of the Light. When she had fallen deep enough, she began to see a vision. A man. He was tall, with dark hair and two different colored eyes. She saw him, holding a green lightsaber, back to back with another person, this one a young man, with brown hair and lekku. There was danger, but they were ready to face it. She did not know how to explain it, but it had something to do with Phae. Somehow the Force was allowing her to know that her daughter would be safe. She wasn't able to trust anyone with her daughter's safekeeping, but she could trust in the Force. She would trust in the Force.

_Rest easy my child._ Her master's voice whispered as she fell asleep, her mind coming to rest like a giant leaf on the surface of a great river.

Later in the night, something shook her and she opened her eyes. She was sitting back against the window sill, the icy dark side crawling up her spine. The Force was singing in her bones, all danger and alarm. The Inquisitor was coming.

Maia scrambled to her feet, but Phaedra was already sitting up on the bed, looking at her with huge brown eyes. "Mama…"

"I know. We have to go. Boots."

Phaedra got off the bed and began to pull on her boots. Maia tied them quickly, then rummaged through her coat, feeling in the concealed pocket for her lightsaber. "Mama…Your hair…" Phae said, her eyes wide.

"It's okay. Take your backpack, Phae," Maia said, throwing on her coat and leading them toward the door. She hid the lightsaber in her sleeve and shouldered her pack with the other hand.

They exited the run-down hotel quickly, making their way along a dark street. When Maia saw four stormtroopers, she sidestepped, tugging Phae down a narrow way between two buildings.

It was then that Maia heard a familiar sound that struck fear into her heart. The snap-hiss of a lightsaber. She turned and saw the bloody red blade of an Inquisitor standing at the head of the alleyway. "Padawan Alata and your spawn." A voice said with pleasure. "After so many near misses…"

Maia pushed Phae behind her and ignited her own blade. "That's Master Alata to you."

There was the sound of laughter as the evil being stepped forward. "I hardly think that twenty-four hours as a Master before the fall of the Jedi makes you deserving of the title." He clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Tell me, did you run from the temple right away, or did you try to fight before you lost your nerve and turned tail to run? If you promise to tell me how you escaped us that night, I promise to kill you off before I take your child and turn her to the dark." He removed his visor and threw it to the side, taking a guard position.

Phae clutched her mother's coat as she saw the glowing yellow of his eyes. The Inquisitor's face was misshapen, due to scars he now bore. Across his jaw, toward his ear, was the hot, red, still-healing scar of a lightsaber wound from Maia's blade. There was also a misshapen look to one side of his skull, under the short buzzed black hair there. She realized suddenly that it was damage from the fall.

"I will tell you nothing, darksider." Maia reached back and found Phae's hand. "I need you to run, Love. Run and hide." She began to push her daughter away from her, holding the lightsaber in a guard position.

"Noooo…" Phaedra cried, her voice a hoarse whisper, backing up against the wall next to them and shaking her head. "Don't hurt my mama!"

There was a woosh of Force energy from Phaedra. It moved through the alley and flapped the Inquisitor's coat, as if he had a huge set of black wings flying out behind him. He fell back a step and grinned ferally. "Now your child, Jedi…she is something. She would be a strong weapon for the dark side, with some tempering."

Maia advanced and lunged in attack. The Inquitsitor leered as he deflected her blade. "Juyo? A desperate move."

Maia fell back in a defensive Form II stance, saying nothing. The Inquisitor edged forward and the exchange of blows began. Back and forth, the battle ranged as Phaedra watched in terror. In reality, the fight took a very few minutes, but in Phaedra's mind it was interminable. Maia's sword flashed like lightning, as she lunged and defended. She wasn't fast enough. When the bloody blade ran her through, she was stunned, glancing down at the glowing blade impaling her.

The Inquisitor pushed her off his blade and she fell in a useless heap. Then he turned on Phaedra.

"Now, little one…" His voice was thick and dripping with poison as he turned on her…

* * *

"And then he came toward me." Phaedra said, in a soft voice. It was hard not to be intimidated by all the eyes watching her, and she looked down at the cup of blue milk in her shaking hands. She'd been hungry before, but now the food felt like a lump in her stomach.

When done with dinner, Ezra urged Phae to tell what she remembered about her mother. It was a terrifying story, made even more so because Phaedra had been around the same age as Caleb when he'd been taken, also by an Inquisitor. Sabine couldn't help thinking about it as she watched the curly-haired girl telling her story.

"Force, Phaedra…how did you survive?" Caleb asked.

"I can't explain it," she began. She reached out slowly in front of her, holding her hand out. "My mother's lightsaber just flew into my hand. He came to attack, and I blocked each one—I don't know how."

"I do." Ezra murmured. "The Force guided you."

She nodded. "It felt like something moving my hand through the air to block. Then I stabbed into his chest," here she extended her hand in front of her, "and it…it hit home. Then he was at my feet, dead." She drew a shivering breath as her hand dropped to the table.

Ezra's eyes went to Sabine's, then Zeb's. He had no idea what to say; anything he could say wouldn't even come close to expressing how her story made him feel. It reminded him of his life on the street, and it reminded him of what Caleb had been through.

"That might be one of the bravest things I've ever heard, kit." Zeb murmured.

Phaedra shook her head. "My mom. She was the brave one. I…went over to her and she…she was dying. I knew it. Her breathing was all wrong and her lips were b-blue." Here she wiped her downcast face with both hands. "Before she was gone, she said if I ever met a Jedi I should trust that they would help me. I…I never met anyone like that until…until you two." She sniffled as Sabine laid a hand on her shoulder again.

"Well, you met the right two people." Sabine said.

Ezra smiled at Sabine. "What happened next?" he urged.

"My mom told me to run. Then she died. I knew because I saw her eyes…I saw how her spirit faded and she was…gone." She took a deep breath. "So, I ran away before the troopers came. I hid behind some scrap metal in a nearby alley."

Sabine glanced at Ezra. She knew that her husband had been in the same situation at seven years old, and so her heart went out to the girl. In her heart, she could still see the scruffy teenager Ezra had been when Hera and Kanan had rescued him and her heart twisted.

"I slept on the streets. I fell in with some older kids back then, and they helped me learn what to do…how to make it on my own."

"What happened to your mother's lightsaber?" Caleb asked.

Phaedra nodded and continued. "Last week, I was asleep and this guy…Estin Devian, a low-level lackey for the local boss, broke in to the building where I stay sometimes, and lifted it from me. I asked around and found he skipped town, but nobody would tell me where. I'm pretty sure he skipped the whole karking planet. The only way I know it was him because he showed my mom's sword to this musician that plays at the Adagio, a drummer named BoDan. BoDan told me it was a laser sword with a golden grip, so I knew it was hers." She looked from one of them to the next.

"Lightsabers would fetch a heavy price, these days." Ezra murmured to himself.

"I wouldn't have stolen your droid's core, but…I was trying to save up some money for passage to go and search for it. I'm sorry." Phaedra said.

Ezra stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Don't trouble yourself anymore about it," he said, turning toward the Ghost's cockpit.

"Where are you going?" Phaedra asked.

Sabine watched as Ezra turned, smiling as if he was up to something, with his arms open and walking backwards. "I'm going to put our network to good use."

"We have a really good network," Caleb whispered, as if sharing a secret. Phaedra let out a soft, short laugh in response.

When Ezra reached the cockpit, Chopper rolled out and made his way to the common room. When he saw Phaedra, he let out an electronic scream and waved his shock prod, zooming toward her.

Caleb was the first up, and he knelt in front of Chopper, putting his hands on Chopper's dome. "Chopper. Listen to me. Phaedra's sorry. She made a mistake stealing your core."

Chopper rocked back and forth on his struts angrily.

"Chopper? That's your name?" Phaedra scooted as far forward on the seat as she could, leaned out and looked into his ocular sensor. "I'd like to apologize, if you'll let me."

Chopper squawked irately.

"Chop…don't use that kind of language." Sabine said.

"I really am sorry. Please forgive me."

The droid swiveled his dome toward Zeb, as if to ask what his position was.

"Chopper, she's just a kit. Gotta let it go," the Lasat said.

"She won't try it again, buddy. You're safe," Caleb promised.

There were a few more indignant squawks, which Phaedra didn't understand, and then Chopper rolled back towards the cockpit, possibly to plead his case to Ezra.

"I don't think he forgives me," she said sadly.

"He doesn't, but don't let it keep you up at night. He has a long list of people he doesn't like," Sabine said with a grin.

"Who else is on it?"

"Ah…most of us." Zeb said as he scratched his beard, then grinned.

Phaedra snickered and was about to respond, but she let out a huge yawn instead.

"If someone will help me get you to the 'fresher, you can change into pajamas and get ready for bed."

"Oh…uh..I can sleep in this…I don't want to be any trouble."

"You're not going to be any trouble," Sabine said, suddenly realizing things like pajamas must be luxuries for a kid like Phaedra. "You can borrow a pair of my sleep pants and a shirt. That way you'll be comfortable tonight. Caleb. You bunk with Zeb, okay? Get what you need out of there while I help Phaedra get ready for bed."

"No problem, Sabine." Caleb said.

Sabine smiled. "Come on, Phaedra let's slide you out of the booth."

* * *

Phaedra could actually put a little weight on her leg as long as she could lean on Sabine and Zeb when it hurt. They got into the 'fresher and Sabine helped her get ready for bed. Phaedra rummaged around in her backpack until she found a toothbrush.

"You carry a toothbrush around?" Sabine said. She was standing next to the shower, ready to help if Phaedra faltered.

Phaedra nodded. "I carry everything I own around. That way I can just take off if I need to."

"Oh," Sabine's gaze softened, remembering the backpack Ezra had carried with him when he had first come on the Ghost. It had never left his side those first few weeks, but what that meant had never occurred to her. He must have been afraid he'd have to take off if he did something wrong or things just didn't work out. "Ezra was the same way," she said thoughtfully, her mind going back to those first few days.

Phaedra spit out a mouthful of foam to ask, "What do you mean?"

"Hmm? Oh. He was on the streets, much like yourself…" she smiled faintly. "But that was before he met us all. Before Kanan convinced him to stay with us."

"His parents were Jedi, too?"

Sabine shook her head. "No. They were good people, who fought against what the Empire was doing in the early days, but they weren't Jedi. The Empire took them away and Ezra was on his own. He was only seven years old."

"And…the Kanan guy you mentioned?"

Sabine blinked as if coming back from her memories; she looked at the girl in front of her with a sad smile. "He was someone very special, Phaedra. I'll tell you about him sometime."

"What about Ezra's parents?" she asked around her toothbrush.

"They were killed by the Empire."

Her eyes were shining with sympathy. "Oh no, I'm sorry."

Sabine sadly smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think everyone lost something during the years that the Empire ruled. But, look, I know you're tired. When you finish here, I'll help you back to your room, Phaedra, and you can sleep."

Phaedra spoke very softly. "You can call me Phae. It's what my mom called me." Phaedra immediately blushed, looking quickly down into the sink and rinsing her mouth and toothbrush.

"Okay, Phae," Sabine said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"What about Caleb's parents? Did the Empire get them too, or did he have to give them up to become a Jedi?"

"Another long story, and you're tired." Sabine said. "But if you must know, his father was a Jedi. He died. His mother, however, is very much still with us." She smirked, thinking how Hera would like this brave, inquisitive girl. "You might get to meet her, depending on how we decide to go about helping you." She reached down and took Phae's bag, slinging it over one shoulder and holding out an arm for the girl. "Come on."

"Okay. Thanks, Sabine. I don't know why you guys would do something like this for me…"

"It's just what we do, Phae," she replied.

 


	4. Chapter 4

4.

"She tried to do _what_ to my droid?" Hera's eyebrow went up. Ezra had called her and told her that some girl had sneaked onto the Ghost and ripped them off. Now she could see him sitting back in the Pilot's chair grinning.

"She didn't just try, she **stole** his memory core."

"Please tell me you found her."

Ezra shook his head. Her eyes went wide, then he grinned. "Your son found her. I'm telling you, this kid is something."

"Caleb better be ok…" The "General Syndulla" look was in place on her face.

"Of course he is. There was some hand to hand, but he was well equipped to handle it."

"So is she okay?" Hera asked. At Ezra's nod, she relaxed. "Come on, Ezra. Quit holding out on me."

"Okay. The girl, her name is Phaedra, did get hurt. Caleb was chasing her and she fell. When we got a good look at her, Hera…she was just a street rat. Like I used to be." He lifted his mismatched eyes to hers meaningfully. "And she can use the Force. Her mother survived the Purge like Kanan."

"Her mother was a Jedi." It was more of a statement than a question.

Ezra nodded. "She's strong with the Force. She's never been trained, but I can feel it in her. I know we're supposed to help her."

"Okay. What do you need?" Hera's small blue hologram leaned forward. Ezra could see the look in her eye that said that she was going to fix this.

"First, I want to see if you can get in contact with Leia Organa. I know either she or Skywalker has access to the old Jedi temple records. I want to verify her story, just in case."

"Do you think the girl's not being truthful?"

"No. I don't imagine she's lying to us, but we both know how deceptive those from the dark side can be. See if they can find a record for a Master Maia Alata. She could have been a temple guard. The girl deserves to know about her mother."

Hera nodded. When the Empire had fallen and the old Jedi temple records had been recovered, Leia had sent her Kanan's files. In them were observations of Caleb Dume's performance in his classwork in the temple. Hera had not been surprised to see that her son bore a striking resemblance to his father. She made herself read all the observations from his instructors, comparing him to the man she'd known. "Inquisitive mind," "loyalty and determination are two of his best qualities," and "seems to have a talent for strategy" were just a few of the things she'd read. Master Billaba, his Jedi Master, had written up several reports on her Padawan. Kanan had loved her like a mother, and Hera wasn't surprised that Master Billaba's report read much the same way:

_To some, it may seem that Caleb's actions on Kardoa were reckless. However, the Padawan's youth may be to blame for his impetuousness in battle. I postulate that with time, the Padawan will become a formidable leader in any engagement. He is younger than most Padawans going into war and this should be taken under consideration when evaluating him. He should not be judged harshly for the missteps of youth.  
_

_He has a keen mind for strategy and it is just this ability, which will serve him and the men under his command well. He is a quick learner who asks the right questions at the right time, and he is conscientious when given a task. I have, in fact, never given a task to Caleb that he hasn't worked to his utmost to achieve. My faith in him is unwavering.  
_

In the file were also two holos, which Hera had watched only once. They showed the eager-eyed youngling Kanan had been. In the first, he was battling a dark-haired girl with practice sabers. They were intent; it was obvious that the two kids took their bout seriously—much more seriously than other kids their age would have. The two were pretty evenly matched, but he hit her three times in succession and she stumbled and fell backwards.

 _Good try, Tai,_ he'd said with his hand out to help her up. Then he'd turned toward a tiny figure in a brown robe. _Master Yoda? May I ask a question about Form two?_ He asked a few questions of his teacher before the footage cut out. When it was done, she had just sat there, watching the black screen of the data pad in her lap. He'd been so young; unaware of the heartbreak to come in his tragic future. It was so sad, that she had rolled over on her bed, clutching the datapad to her chest and sobbing.

The second recording was security footage of Kanan's Initiate Trial to become a Padawan. She knew Ezra had watched them more than once, but she couldn't bring herself to look at them again. They reminded her too much of what she'd lost and hurt in the way that fuzzy memories did not. She and Ezra had decided to hold the whole file until Caleb was old enough to understand it, and on his 13th birthday, they'd given it to him. He'd taken the data pad into his room and stayed in there a very long time. When he came out, he had handed the datapad back to Hera and wrapped his arms around first her, then Ezra. "He…he was a lot like me," Caleb had said wonderingly.

Hera started when Ezra called her name.

"You okay?" Ezra asked.

She nodded. "Sorry. My mind wandered for a minute. You mentioned helping the girl?"

"Yeah. I was saying, she took Chop's memory core because someone stole her mother's lightsaber from her. She was going to sell the core for the credits to try and retrieve the weapon. I want to help her find it. While you contact Skywalker, I'm going to contact Kallus and see if he has any knowledge of the scum that stole it."

"That's a good idea. Are you still making the delivery to Yavin?"

Ezra nodded. "We'll slip that in. It'll give Phaedra some time to heal up."

"I'll bring the Phantom and meet you on Yavin in 48 hours."

"Hera, you know you're supposed to be resting. That Dantari flu is nothing to play around with."

"Nonsense, I'm fine. I was on the mend when you guys left."

"Nothing'll keep Hera Syndulla down." Ezra gave her a smile. "This girl, Phaedra. I gotta say, I think Caleb's got an eye for her."

"Ezra!" Hera chided him, but then began to smile herself. "Seriously?"

Ezra shrugged. "Maybe. I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry."

Hera nodded. "Ezra…"

"What?" he finally asked, puzzled.

"I was just thinking how much I appreciate you. All these years, you've been there for Caleb—keeping him safe and guiding him the way Kanan would have. Thank you for being there for him."

Ezra's expression softened. "We're a family. That's what we do," he said gently. "You taught me that, that very first day when you sent me back to warn everyone of the Empire's trap. I appreciate that, Hera."

For a moment, Hera saw the fourteen-year-old boy he'd been, and she felt tears threaten. What was it about getting old that made one more sentimental? She couldn't explain it, but she wished it would stop. "Oh, someone's getting a hug when I see them again," she said. "I'll get back to you when I hear something. Spectre two out."

"Spectre six out."

Ezra cut transmission, and sat back a minute, thinking. A few minutes later a voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hey, Ezra?"

Ezra raised his eyes and saw that Caleb was standing in the doorway to the cockpit. "Yeah?" Ezra gestured to the co-pilot's chair. Caleb sat.

"Everyone's headed to bed. Phae's going to take my bunk and I'll be in with Zeb."

Ezra nodded, reclining back in his seat. "Okay. Your mom's gonna meet us on Yavin in two days. She's going to see what Leia Organa or Skywalker might know about Phaedra's mother."

"You think they might have some information like...like my father's file?"

"That's what I'm hoping." Ezra said. "So, what's your plan?"

Caleb looked up, eyes wide. "Huh?"

"You can plan this one. How do we go about getting her mother's saber back?"

Caleb thought a moment. "Well, we know the name of the guy who most likely took it, so we definitely should start there. Estin Devian. Maybe Uncle Xandr might know something…"

"Okay." Ezra nodded, not mentioning he'd thought the same thing. "Good use of your resources. What else can we be doing while we're waiting to hear back?"

"The guy at the bar. BoDan. We can check him out and see if he knows something he didn't tell Phaedra."

"Good idea." Ezra said. "You probably should use the holocron to brush up on the mind trick. If this guy BoDan gives us the run around you can persuade him to help us."

Caleb nodded, eyes wide. He'd never had to use a mind trick before, but Ezra had required him to study the technique. "I will, Master."

"Good." Ezra sat thinking. "Go ahead and let's contact Kallus." He tilted his head to the side so that he could read the chrono with his good eye, then did the mental calculations. "It's late, but I bet he's up." Ezra knew that, like himself, Alexsandr often had trouble sleeping. The war had left its enduring mark on everyone.

In a few moments, Kallus's holo appeared above the emitter Ezra had been using for Hera.

"Caleb!" Kallus was obviously at his office on Coruscant, sitting behind his desk.

"Hi, Uncle Xandr."

"Is that Ezra behind you?"

"Yeah. I'm here." Ezra said, leaning forward so he could be seen.

"Well, what can I do for you? It's been a while since I came to visit. Caleb's growing like a puffer pig!"

"Hey! I'm not sure that's a compliment…" Caleb said with a raised eyebrow.

Ezra laughed. "Yeah. He _is_ growing—but more like a Spinebloom, straight up and tall like Kanan. And you know you've got an open invitation to come see us, Alexsandr. Anytime. "

Kallus smiled. "I've got some time next month…if I don't take it off, they're threatening to fire me, so I'll comm and let you guys know."

"Fire you? Yeah, right." Ezra snorted. "Anyway, Caleb's got a question for you. We've sort of had something drop in our laps, and Caleb had the idea of calling you. I think we've found the child of a survivor of the Purge."

"Interesting."

"Her name's Phaedra Alata. Her mother was a Jedi with a golden lightsaber—I think she must have been a temple guard."

"Does the daughter have the same ability with the Force?"

Caleb replied, "She's untrained, but she can use the Force to help her fight, so she's probably pretty strong to have figured out that much."

"We should contact Skywalker. Perhaps she might be interested in training at his school."

"Already on it." Ezra said.

"Good. So, what do you need from me?" Kallus steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them, a curl of greying blond falling over one eye.

"We need information on a criminal. We're on Queln."

Kallus began tapping at a terminal. "Got any names?"

"Estin Devian. Kind of a low-level bishwag around here. He stole Phaedra's mother's lightsaber from her, and we're going to retrieve it. Any background you have would be helpful. Home planet…associates…past arrests?"

Kallus nodded, eyebrow raised as he tapped on the keyboard in front of him. "Hmm…I see him. Arrests for dealing everything from death sticks to glitterstim—but some of it just didn't stick. Been arrested on Jantal and Queln. Did two years in prison on Jantal."

Kallus kept scrolling.

"He was born there…might still have family in the area. Maybe try the capital city Telsca. Oh, and uh…five years back he was crew on a smuggler's ship. But, I think that's all the data we have. Small time criminal."

"He may be looking to make a big score." Ezra murmured. "What are lightsabers going for right now?" During the war, lightsabers had sold on the black market for five or six thousand credits, but he had no idea what they went for now.

"Close to five, I'd say. More if it's rare and he's selling to a 'collector.' Probably good money to someone like him."

"Thanks, Alexsandr, that is a big help." Ezra said.

"Yeah, thanks," Caleb echoed.

"You're certainly welcome. I'll put my agents on alert. Keep me posted if you need anything."

They both nodded. "We will. Spectre seven out." Caleb cut the transmission.

"Okay. Let's get some sleep and then we'll check out the guy at the club tomorrow." Ezra got to his feet. "It's getting late."

"I'll look over the mind trick information tomorrow morning." Caleb promised.

Ezra nodded. "That'll work. And Padawan,"

"Huh?" Caleb stopped in the doorway and turned.

"You did a good job today."

"Thanks." Caleb replied. "I tried to use everything you taught me, and…well, it was Chopper. I had to save him."

"Yeah. He may be a little murder droid, but he's our little murder droid, isn't he?"

* * *

Phae opened her eyes on unfamiliar surroundings. For a moment, she felt panic and sat straight up, but then she realized where she was. On the Jedi's ship. Yesterday's events came flooding back; the chase, waking up on the ship, the kindness of the people she'd stolen from so casually. She felt another pang of regret.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and placed a hand on her knee. The pain was still there, but it was a lot better than the day before. She'd always been a quick healer. As she got to her feet and experimentally put her weight on the knee, it hurt, but it wasn't bad. She hobbled to the door, unsure of what time it was.

The galley was dark, as was the rest of the ship. She listened and could hear the snores of someone, probably Zeb, in the quarters on the opposite side of the hallway.

She walked to the hatch leading out onto a balcony. As if something was pulling her, she followed the feeling down the ladder to the loading deck for the cargo bay. There she saw something that caused her to pause.

The early morning shrouded the spaceport in darkness. The cargo bay was open and there was a slight chill. Ezra, the older Jedi, was kneeling silently on the deck plating, sitting on his heels. The extremely straight posture recalled memories of her mother and she stopped, immobilized and afraid to interrupt. It was as if she were somehow watching a ghost.

She began to back up against the ladder, to go back upstairs and leave the Jedi in peace when Ezra spoke.

"I find it to be really quiet early in the morning, which is good for meditating." His head turned slightly to speak over his left shoulder.

She took a few steps forward. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll just go…"

"You don't have to leave."

She walked to him, unsure of what to say or do. "My…my uh…mom used to sit like you. Meditating early in the morning. I used to wake up and find her like this."

Ezra's hands moved from their position to gesture to his side. "Sit with me, if you'd like."

"Oh no, I tried it when I was a kid, but I didn't really get anything out of it." Phaedra lowered herself gently, sliding her wounded knee out in front of her.

"So, you've never touched the Force consciously." Ezra said and his words were somewhere between a question and a statement.

Phaedra shook her head.

Ezra thought back to his first few lessons with Caleb. "Would you like me to show you?"

Phae bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Sure. I'll try. I'll probably suck at it, but I'll try."

"Do not be so sure you will fail." Ezra murmured. "You already use the Force. It's not in a concentrated way like the Jedi, but in a more unconscious way. The way I was before I met my own Jedi Master." Her face was crinkled in concentration so he went on. "You can leap higher, run faster, get feelings about people, right? Things that most would pass off as normal, or coincidence?"

She nodded.

"It was not coincidence. You are able to do those things through the Force because it is strong in you. Close your eyes."

"My knee is still sore. I don't think I can kneel like that to do the pose."

He smiled at her. "You don't have to. Just close your eyes."

Phae did.

"Now, just breathe. Slow and easy. That's all you have to do right now."

Ezra could feel the steady glow of the light in her, but would she be able to see it for herself? He focused his thoughts, so that the river of the Force flowed more strongly about them with its waves and swells.

"Now," he whispered. "Think of the most beautiful light you've ever seen. Imagine it growing about you, going from soft to bright. Now, just let that light warm you."

There was a long time of silence. Ezra's eyes were closed, but he still felt Phaedra smile when she grasped the Light in her mind. Now awakened, her Force signature bloomed like a rose.

"The Force is an energy field that binds all living things together. Let it flow around you and through you. This is the Light that's always been there, only you've just now focused your eyes upon it."

"It's so…so…" she trailed off, lost in the beauty of it, "…so perfect." As the wonder overwhelmed her, she wobbled, lost her grip and opened her eyes.

"I did it right?"

He nodded.

"Wizard," she breathed, looking around her as if seeing things in a new way. "It was everywhere. Like everything was vibrating with it."

Ezra smiled. "The more you meditate, the better you will get at quieting your mind, and connecting with the Force like that."

Now she understood a little bit better how her mother had seen the world, and it was amazing. "Thank you…for helping me understand my mom a little bit better."

Ezra nodded slowly, closing his eyes again. As he did, she found herself studying his scarred face. The thick scar tissue carved a jagged line through his eyebrow, over his eye and down his cheek to his neck. It had to have been a dreadful wound, and she found herself wondering how he'd gotten it. He had to be one fearsome fighter.

"It happened a long time ago," Ezra murmured, sensing her interest.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I gained a lot more than I lost." Ezra had opened his eyes and was looking at her now, as he changed the subject. "Caleb and I made some calls last night. We've got someone on the lookout for Devian."

"Your network?" Phaedra asked.

"You bet. Today, we're going to go to that club and talk to your friend 'BoDan.'"

"I'm going too."

Ezra shook his head. "You're doing better, but your knee's still not right. You stay here."

She started to protest, but then she nodded slowly. "Okay. I suppose you're right."

"I'll give you a full report when we get back. We have to make a delivery to Yavin tomorrow and pick up Caleb's mom. Would you like to go with us? I hope to take what we find out and decide our next steps from there."

She nodded. "Oh-ok. Will she mind that I'm with you?"

Ezra smiled. "Not at all. In fact, I already told her about you. Our path may take us far from this area for many days. Do you need to go get your things?"

She shook her head. "I have everything in my backpack." After the lightsaber being ripped off, she figured it was better that way.

"I understand that," he nodded. "I was on my own too, once."

"Sabine…mentioned it."

He nodded. "I do believe you're feeling guilty about stealing from us, right?"

"C-can you read m-my mind?" Her eyes were huge, suddenly.

"I could, but I'm not. You just…you broadcast your thoughts very distinctly when you're not watching yourself."

"Oh," she said.

"Look. Don't trouble yourself anymore about the stealing. I…I lifted my share of things back in the day to survive. No one understands your situation better than I do," he reassured her. "But, know this, we're gonna help you out, Phaedra."

"Thank you." She hesitated a moment, then went on. "Um...You called me Phae once before. You can call me Phae. It's what my mom called me."

"Okay, Phae. Hungry?"

She nodded.

"I'm not much of a cook, but I can find some fruit and ration bars as well as anyone." With a smooth motion, he stood and then held out a hand to help Phae to her feet. "Come on, kid."

When they entered the common area, Ezra saw that Caleb was sitting in the Dejarik booth, his head buried in his folded arms. His lekku curled sleepily as there was the sound of a yawn.

"Good morning." Ezra said as he patted Caleb on the shoulder on the way by.

"Mornings are not good." Caleb yawned, turning his head so that his face could be seen, but not opening his eyes yet. It seemed too early to let the light in.

"I let you sleep in for morning mediation, but I had company anyway."

Caleb opened his eyes and saw Phaedra. Of course she looked beautiful, her blue curls framing her smiling face as she limped over to the table. He sat up immediately, a blush coloring his cheeks. He suddenly began to smooth down the tangles of a bad case of bed head.

"Oh, Don't worry, I'm not a morning person either." Phae smiled as she limped over to the table and slid in across from Caleb.

"Yeah. Sabine says it's a law that teenagers can't like mornings."

Phaedra laughed softly. "That makes her ok in my book."

Ezra raised an eyebrow as he put caf in the caf machine and started it. Yeah, it definitely looked like the two of them were taken with each other. Somehow, he couldn't wait for Hera to see it. Caleb had a few friends on Lothal, but as far as dating or showing interest in anyone, he really hadn't. Caleb reminded Ezra in those first few days after meeting Sabine. He'd been equally as smitten, and equally as inexperienced. "Hey, Sabine only says that because she doesn't like mornings and she wants someone to hate them with." Ezra added. "She is only able to wake up after two cups of caf are flowing through her veins."

"Mom's the same way," Caleb said. "She always said the Rebellion ran on caf."

"Your mom fought in the Rebellion?" Phaedra asked.

"Yeah. She was the best pilot in the whole Rebel fleet," Caleb said with pride. "My mom can fly anything."

"Wow." Phae was impressed. "How many battles did she fight in?"

"Scarif, Hoth, umm…it's probably easier to say where she didn't fight. You'll get to meet her; she's rendezvousing with us at Yavin," Caleb said.

"Yeah. Ezra told me." Scarif, Hoth…names—famous names that she knew from stories of the fight against the Empire. Phae wondered what Caleb's mother would be like. "I can't wait," she murmured, wondering what his mom would think about the street rat that had broken into the ship and tried to steal their droid's brain. She bit her bottom lip nervously, and tried to think of something else.

"Look. I don't think you two are going to get much from BoDan. If you talk to him, be careful. He's the band's drummer, and seems like a nice guy, but he's got a Ryll habit. He carries a blade at all times and can get riled."

"Can we mention to him we know you?" Caleb asked.

"Sure. We're usually on pretty good terms, but watch your back in there, though. It's not a nice place."

"We'll be careful." Caleb promised.

Ezra brought over a plate of fruit, and some ration bars. "I could try my hand at a few waffles," he offered.

"How about I make the waffles?" Caleb said, getting up. "I'm a better cook," he explained to Phaedra as he went for the kitchen.

"That sounds great." Ezra replied. He walked over and slipped into the booth with his cup of caf. "Works every time," Ezra whispered with a wink to Phae, who laughed.

"I heard that." Caleb called, causing another cascade of laughter.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Let me hear from you if you're still loving this story as much as me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you like this chapter. I keep finding that this story is not just Caleb's story, but it's Ezra's story too. I am in love with our little blueberry, all grown up! This is sort of a bridge chapter, but I think you might find a few things you like. I am working on a little spin off that concerns the info in the first two paragraphs, if anyone's interested...
> 
> As always, I'd love to know what you thought.

 

* * *

Chapter 5

The Adagio was the sort of a dive where one would come to get into a bar fight. Ezra had found his way into a few of them, in those dark months after Kanan died. He would get sent on a supply run, or to meet with this operative or that operative on a planet somewhere, and alone, he would complete the mission. Then he would find his way into the nearest hole-in-the wall and drink himself into oblivion. Sometimes he woke up with battered knuckles, other times he woke up with a black eye and a cut on the back of his head that required stitches. Twice he'd been hit with a blaster bolt, but always glancing shots. It seemed like the Force kept an eye on him even when he wasn't keeping an eye on himself.

Hera never said anything to him about it, but she knew. He'd see a frown on her face and her shoulders would seem to slump a little more, so he would try to limit the amount of visible damage. It had taken Sabine a little longer to figure it out, but when she did, she'd given him hell, which had caused him to vanish for a few more days. Eventually she found him in a bar on Garel, (she'd planted a tracker) and without doing anything but looking into his blue eyes and holding out her hand, she'd brought him back home. Not long after that, they'd gotten engaged, then married. It hadn't stopped his anxieties, but her steady influence had kept him sane in a very dark time.

"Ezra?" Caleb asked. Ezra realized he'd paused by the entrance, lost in thought.

"Sorry." Ezra put a hand on Caleb's shoulder as they entered the Adagio. The bar was the way most people liked it; cool and dark. The bartop ran along one wall of the place, and opposite to it was a small stage where instruments were set up. Apparently, the band wasn't on yet.

Since it was early afternoon, Ezra and Caleb were able to find a seat in a booth where they could see the whole stage. Ezra came back from the bar with two glasses, setting one down in front of Caleb.

Caleb took an experimental sip. "Jogan Fizz." It was his favorite.

"Yeah." Ezra said, taking a seat on the other side of the booth, and taking a sip from his own fizzy drink. "Pretty good. I see why you like it."

They sat for a while, watching the people go in and out of the bar. Some people ordered food, but most were drinking. Many of them were sad…drinking to forget their problems. As he and Ezra chatted, he could feel that Ezra understood that.

And he knew that Ezra had had problems that he'd run from. Throughout the years, in the whispered, hushed tones of a family secret, he'd come to know that Ezra had struggled greatly after Kanan died. The struggle had crested on Hoth, and the tension had only started to ease after his father had appeared on Lothal. However, since Ezra had come to rescue him from the Inquisitor, things had improved. The nightmares, the staring out of the window in the middle of the night, the worried crease in Sabine's forehead at Ezra's quiet moments had all seemed to have run their course. There were certain times of the year when Ezra was quieter than others, but the depressions seemed to last only a day or two before passing like a quiet summer storm. He thought again about talking to Sabine about it but decided that maybe it wasn't necessary. He still worried a little though because Ezra meant so much to him.

After about an hour, they saw several humans come through the door. One was thin and scrappy-looking, carrying an instrument case. The other was tall, with broad shoulders and dark skin. Long braids hung around his face and he wore a slouchy hat. He lagged behind his skinny bandmate, talking with the bartender a moment. Ezra saw money and drugs exchange hands.

"That's him." Caleb said.

"Let's go. You're on lead," Ezra gestured, "but I'm right behind you."

Caleb made his way across the club toward the bandstand where the two bandmembers had begun setting up. He waited until they glanced up at him.

"Hey, kid, what you want, huh?" The skinny guy raised an eyebrow at him as he set up his voice amplifier. The dark-skinned man worked on his drums, getting just the right sound from them as he watched Caleb and Ezra with dark, wary eyes.

"Hi. I'm a friend of Phaedra's."

"Phaedra?" The singer laughed harshly. "That your girlfriend, pretty boy? She's a real bitch…" He shot a glance toward the drummer, who immediately stood up.

"Shut the kark up. Jus' cause the girl knocked out your tooth when you tried to make a move on her don't mean she's a bitch. Jus' means she's got sense, you kriffin' ugly bastard."

"You shoulda let me teach her a lesson."

As soon as the smaller man spoke, the big drummer advanced on him. "Karkin' pervert." They bumped against each other again, staring at each other, but the hard glare of the drummer won out. His bandmate walked away, knocking over his voice amplifier stand and making his way to the bar. A friend or possibly another member of the band met him there and they talked in low voices.

The man with the braids nodded at Caleb. "What's Phaedra need? She in trouble with the law?"

Caleb shook his head. "Are you BoDan?"

"Yeah. That's me." Suspicion grew in his eyes like stormclouds.

"You know something was stolen from her recently. A weapon."

The drummer shrugged, backing off. "Hey, man. I know the girl, but I ain't involved in her everyday life like that."

Caleb knew the drummer was lying. He drew the Force to him and then used it when he spoke next, applying the mind trick technique, even though his heart was hammering out its own drumbeat. "Think again. It was a golden lightsaber."

The drummer paused a moment, as if thinking, then his eyes grew hard and he shook his head. "Man, I don't know shit about a lightsaber. Are you kriffin' with me? Get the frack out of here."

"Wait a minute…I…"

The big drummer stood up and advanced on Caleb. "Look. I don't kriffin' know you…and I don't want to know you. I'm not in the mood for this banthashit."

Ezra rested a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "Ask again," he said in a calm voice.

Caleb felt his mind's focus sharpen. "Help us help her out. You can trust us. What do you know about Estin Devian?" Caleb felt the Force strengthen around him and he felt the man's mind in front of him begin to give.

"The guy is a sleemo. Saw him talkin' to a pilot in here that ships from Jantal. Think he was buying passage that way. In fact, I know they left together. Devian is probably gonna sell that lightsaber thing in Jantal's Great Market." BoDan blinked several times, as if surprised.

"Thanks." Caleb said.

"Um…yeah, no problem." BoDan looked slightly confused and a little worried that he'd said too much.

"You have nothing to worry about. You can go about your business." Caleb added, and BoDan relaxed a little and began tapping out a beat to test the sounds of his drums, effectively ignoring them.

Ezra used his touch on Caleb's shoulder to guide him out. As soon as they'd left the club, Caleb looked over at him. "Sorry, I messed that up."

"Yeah. But you got it the second time."

"Only because you helped."

"All I did was calm your mind. You did the rest." Ezra said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let's get back to the _Ghost_."

* * *

The sound of the _Ghost's_ hyperspace engines hummed around them. Ezra was sitting in the pilot's chair, staring out at the stars streaking past in blue washes of color. It was late evening, and he'd come to check on their progress through hyperspace.

"Hey, you. Want some caf?" Sabine held out a mug.

He nodded, taking it from her. "Thanks, Sabinika."

"Kids are in bed," Sabine said softly, sliding into the co-pilot's seat.

"That's good. By the time they wake up, we'll be close to Yavin 4."

She nodded, watching the endless streaks of light right outside the ship. "You've been really quiet tonight."

He glanced at her. "Just been thinking."

"About the past." It was a statement, not a question. She took a sip of her caf, watching him with a focused look in her brown eyes-the look that said Sabine Wren had sensed a problem and would not be letting this go.

"Yeah." Ezra tried his caf. "Kriff you make good caf."

"Distraction's not gonna work with me, babe." She raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing. Just…been thinking about the kid. Phaedra. Brings back a lot of memories of the street."

She nodded. "She does remind me of you."

"We've got to help her." Ezra murmured.

"We will. Believe me, once Hera gets a look at this kid, there's no way she'll be going back to her life on Queln."

Ezra nodded to himself. "Yeah."

Sabine glanced over to Chopper. "Chop can watch the jump, and we should head to bed." She knew her husband hadn't been sleeping well, and she wanted him with her, not sitting up watching the starlines in the night. It was too much like…before. Since Ezra's fight with Tarek years before, he'd had a much better hold on his anxieties—for example, she rarely found him holding watch in the night anymore. He still had the occasional nightmare but hadn't had a panic attack since Caleb's rescue. She desperately wanted it to continue. She was no mind reader, but she had a sense for stress in Ezra and she could feel it building.

He took her hand but pulled her back to him and wrapped her in both of his arms. "You know you don't need to worry about me, Sabinika." He leaned in and kissed her. "I'm all good."

She broke away, pulling him by the hand. "Yeah? Then come prove it to me."

"There are two kids aboard," he said, putting up a slight token resistance. However, he couldn't do it without a smile, so she knew he was game.

"Yeah, and we'll be really, really quiet," she whispered, pulling him along in the darkened ship until they disappeared into their room.

* * *

Hera was sitting on the ramp of the Phantom, talking with a few pilots when she saw the _Ghost_ landing on the pad outside the New Republic base. She began to walk towards her ship when it settled to rest.

The cargo ramp let down, and as she stepped onto it, her eyes dazzled at going from the bright of outside to the interior of the ship.

There was a tink, tink, of feet on the ladder and then Caleb was standing in front of her. "Mom," he said, hugging her.

She hugged him back with as much enthusiasm. "Missed you," she said against his ear, then placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Then she leaned back and took him in. He was looking more and more like Kanan as he got older, she thought. Her eyes drifted to the bruised area under his eye.

"It's okay, Mom." Caleb said.

"Mmm-hmm." She said with a raised eyebrow. She brushed some of his hair out of his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder as they turned to see Sabine, followed by Ezra and a girl with short curly hair.

"Hello," Hera said.

The teal haired girl looked around uncomfortably. "Um…Hi." Ezra placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her forward. She was limping a bit from the injury Ezra had mentioned. She couldn't help but feel sympathy for the teen. The girl was very thin, wearing threadbare clothes that were too big, and had wary, frightened eyes.

"Hera, this is Phaedra Alata. Phae, this is Hera Syndulla, Caleb's mom."

"I'm sorry, General." Phaedra said in a whisper. Last night, they'd talked a bit about Hera and although everyone had told her it would be okay, she was still nervous to meet Caleb's mom.

Hera raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What for, love?"

"About stealing your droid's memory core." Phaedra's eyes darted away and back nervously. "I…I didn't have a whole lot of options, but I…didn't do the right thing." She forced herself to look at the green Twi'lek who was smiling at her.

"May I call you Phaedra?"

She nodded. "Phae, if you want. It's my nickname."

"Okay. You should call me Hera. Very few people call me General anymore." Hera paused a moment, thinking, then went on. "Phae, everyone in this room has made mistakes. Big ones, small ones, ones that ended up not mattering and ones that we still regret today. We would be a poor set of people if we didn't forgive mistakes in others, so please don't worry." She extended her hand and Phaedra took it. "It's nice to meet you. My family thinks a lot of you, obviously."

"Th..thanks. Same here." Phae was at a loss at being greeted so warmly. She'd not expected it. She watched as Hera approached Ezra and gave him a hug, then did the same with Sabine and Zeb, who had just come down the ladder.

"These guys will offload the shipment." Hera said, gesturing to several military personnel who were at the foot of the ramp. "Then we can talk."

* * *

"Fifteen on the kid," one of the pilots said to his friend as they leaned back against their ship. "The old one's gonna be too slow, I think."

"I got you on that bet. You're gonna lose that money, bishwag. Know who the other guy is? That's Ezra Bridger. Hero of Lothal." He shook his head. "He's like Skywalker. A Jedi. Kid's his student. My money's on the Jedi Master."

"No betting on my kids." Hera smacked one of the pilots on the shoulder and the other one on the chest with a glove as she walked by.

"Yes, Ma'am." They straightened up, but immediately began whispering about Hera in tones of hushed admiration when she was gone. She was as much a legend as Ezra.

Hera reached the _Ghost's_ cargo bay ramp, where Sabine, Zeb and Phae were sitting. They had joined the crowd watching Ezra and Caleb spar on the tarmac. Caleb's twin blue sabers were flashing, trying to find any opening in Ezra's defense, but everywhere the blue sabers struck, the green lightsaber was there to deflect.

Hera sat near Sabine with Phae in the middle. "Did the medics take a look at your knee, love?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Phae said. "They said it's healed up a lot. Sabine came with me."

"Yeah, they said they couldn't believe how quickly it was healing." Sabine added.

Hera nodded. "Good." She glanced back at her son and Ezra. Ezra would win the bout, of course, but Caleb WAS getting rather good. Again, she thought of how much Caleb reminded her of Kanan. The two blades, his and Kanan's, were the same exact color. A matched set, although the lightsaber hilts were different. Caleb had begun learning with Kanan's saber and hadn't wanted to give it up when he'd built his own, so he used both.

"They're amazing," Phae whispered. She let out a little gasp as Ezra drove Caleb back with several slashes, then Force pushed him back about ten feet.

"Yeah." Hera said. "Don't worry though. They're training. They can't get hurt from the lightsabers. It just gives a jolt." As if to prove her point, Caleb fooled Ezra with a feint and struck him on the knee with a zap.

"Okay, that's it, huh? That's how you're gonna play this? I may have taught you everything you know, but I haven't taught you everything I know." Ezra gestured with a grin. "Guard position, Padawan."

They began to spar again, back and forth across the tarmac. This time, Ezra used some different moves, and caused Caleb to drop a saber. The teen was so surprised, he didn't react quickly enough before Ezra called the dropped saber into his hand and was now fighting Caleb with two sabers. Caleb went into a conservative guard and Ezra nodded. "Form three. Good choice to defend from a variety of attacks."

"Economy of motion." Caleb replied, blocking a flurry of attacks from Ezra with calm, practiced moves. There were a few gasps from the crowd of pilots as both Jedi were using the Force and moving faster than humanly possible.

"It doesn't leave much room for offensive action, though, does it, Caleb?"

"But Master, survival leaves room for offensive action later, correct? If you outlast your opponent, you can take offensive action, yet you can take no action if you are dead."

"That's a good response. But what if the situation requires you take immediate action, or another's life could be lost?"

"I see. Then another form would be better. Perhaps Ataru."

Ezra didn't respond, but it was clear he was pleased. After a few moments, as Caleb tried a few different attacks, Ezra prompted him. "You are tiring. Form three is your best choice in such a situation." He began using Ataru himself, forcing Caleb to go into defensive mode once more.

Finally, Caleb stumbled. Ezra held out a hand and his Padawan stopped mid-fall. "You're off balance." With a push, Ezra gently stabilized his Padawan and disengaged his sabers. "And tired. We should take a break."

Ezra handed back Caleb's saber to a flurry of scattered applause. Ezra raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the onlookers as they slowly dispersed, going back to their tasks. "The distraction of the crowd was good for you." He ruffled Caleb's brown hair and grabbed the bottles of water they'd set out earlier, handing one to Caleb.

"It was different. I could feel the different emotions from them." Caleb drank deeply, then made his way back to the _Ghost_ with Ezra.

"Good shot on that knee, Cale." Zeb grinned. "Better watch your back, old man. He's gonna beat you one of these days." He wrestled Ezra into a headlock and the two of them ended up on the ground laughing.

Phaedra stood up as Caleb came close. "That was amazing. You were so good, both of you." She added, looking to Ezra. It was clear who she'd been watching however.

"We practice a lot." Caleb said modestly. "Want me to show you a move or two? We can go real slow…I know your knee's still healing."

Phaedra looked down at the temporary brace on her knee, then back up at Caleb. "Sure. That'd be fun."

The two of them returned to the empty tarmac and Hera watched as Caleb moved Phae slowly through a few paces of a Jedi form. She didn't know them all, but she recognized the moves as some of the ones Ezra had started Caleb with, all those years ago. Ezra and Zeb talked for a minute until the Lasat left to climb to the upper level.

"What did the doctor say?" Hera asked casually as she glanced to Sabine.

"They did a full workup and gave her all her immunizations." Sabine began. "Other than the injured knee, the medic said she was in fairly good shape. She has a few suspicious looking scars, one underneath her chin and a few on her back. She's had a broken arm. It was set through, probably by someone with some training. She's a good bit underweight and small for her age, probably due to some malnutrition, according to the doctor."

Hera's jaw tightened as she thought of Ezra and how thin he'd been when they'd gotten him. "Okay. We can help with that."

"I have some vitamins and meal supplements from the medbay," Sabine said.

Hera nodded, looking out at Caleb and Phae, who were moving mostly in tandem. They did about five different moves very slowly before Phae lowered her sword. She was looking at Caleb and laughing at something he said to her.

"She's a cute girl," Hera said.

"She has a Jedi's heart." They'd almost forgotten Ezra was behind them. His voice came softly, and as Hera looked up, she saw that his eyes were a bit unfocused as he stared out at the two teenagers.

"Ezra…" Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Ezra?"

Ezra's face showed he didn't hear her. He simply had a distant look on his face. She shared a look with Hera—Kanan had sometimes said things that turned out to be true without remembering them. This wasn't Ezra's first time doing it. "Is she supposed to become a Jedi?"

His face twisted with effort as he narrowed his eyes. "It's hard to see through all the darkness…"

She met Hera's eyes again as her alarm rose. She reached up from her sitting position and brushed his hand with her fingers. Immediately he shifted to look at her. "I didn't hear you. Sorry."

"You said something. Something about Phae?"

"I did?" Ezra blinked at her.

"Did you _see_ something about Phae? Something in the Force?"

Ezra's concern showed on his face. "I don't think so…I don't remember."

"It's okay. You might remember later." Sabine shrugged, knowing the bigger deal she made of it, the more disconcerted he would become. "Wanna come up and make dinner with me? I was going to show you how to make that soup. Vegetable nerf?"

"Oh. Right, yeah. I'll need to get a shower first."

"That's fine. I'll meet you up there in about ten minutes?"

"Sure." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before he climbed the ladder.

"The Force is at work again in our lives." Hera mused.

"It wouldn't be the same without it." Sabine said, glancing at Hera. "Did Leia or Luke Skywalker find anything about Phae's mother?"

Hera nodded. "Some of it we should definitely share. Some of it…I'm not so sure."

"Why?"

"It comes from Inquisitor records. There's…footage from a security feed. It shows…her mother's death." Hera grew serious. "It may be too much for her to see at this point, I just don't know."

Sabine nodded slowly. "We'll let Ezra take a look, then decide."

"Good idea. Sabine, let's go on up." She turned to call to Caleb and Phae. "Dinner's in about an hour. See you then."

"Ok, Mom." Caleb waved, a big smile on his face. He turned to Phae. "Want to take a walk around?"

She nodded and they headed off through the ships toward the complex. Hera couldn't help but smile as she watched them go.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for being patient. I know this is a short chapter, but it's the part I have done and you guys have waited long enough. Thank you for all the support of this story...someone on this site said Rebels gets harder to write the longer it's off the air, and I see their point. SO-go show your favorite Rebels fanfic writer some love...they might need it to stay fueled creating more stories for you. I know your comments mean the world to me.

Chapter 6

"Our next stop is the Great Market on Jantal. Chopper…"

Dinner and the dishes were put away, and they were discussing their next steps, but the grumpy astromech wasn't helping. Hera narrowed her eyes at him. "Show us the hologram, Chop."

He twisted his dome and sqawked, the droid equivalent of crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Chopper." Hera stood up. The droid had been pouting all night. He'd asked Hera earlier if she was going to do anything about 'the thief.' She'd tried ignoring it, but it seemed that the girl's mistaken actions had gotten inside Chopper's stubborn chrome dome and stuck. "I will pull your battery, Chopper," she threatened.

Ezra nudged Caleb. "She's giving him 'the look.'"

"Wait." Phae stood up and limped across the room to Chopper. Caleb wondered if she was limping a little more for show because he didn't remember her limping that much today.

Chopper extended his shock prod but she didn't hesitate. "Please don't pull his battery. He's too important. I've been watching how he keeps this ship running—for example how he managed the hyperspace jump last night. What if we run into pirates or something else we don't expect? We might need this gentle, sweet droid to save our lives."

Caleb snickered softly, covering his mouth, while Zeb and Ezra outright laughed.

Phae shot them a look over her shoulder that said cut it out, then she focused back on Chopper, who had dropped the shock prod. She laid a hand on top of his dome. "I hope that one day you can forgive me."

Chopper made a muttering sound, that sounded like a grudging acknowledgement and rolled forward to project the planet as he'd been asked to do.

Caleb grinned as Phae came to sit back beside him. "You laid it on thick."

She looked excessively offended. "Are you calling me a liar?" Then she winked at him.

Sabine pointed to a place marked on the planet. "Here is the Great Market," she said. "If the saber's for sale, it will be somewhere in here."

"If we split into two or three groups, we might be able to cover more ground…put it out there that we're in the market for a lightsaber," Hera said, thinking out loud.

"What about us?" Caleb said, pointing to himself and Phae.

"You're coming with us, don't worry." Hera nodded. "You'll be with me. How about we make this a sporting proposition…girls against guys?"

"Hera, are you sure? That doesn't leave them with very much protection…" Sabine said, playfully ducking Ezra's swipe at her.

"Whoever finds it first wins…bragging rights?" Hera grinned, her eyes sparkling. "We'll land in the Genplex Spaceport, which is in a better part of town, but this search might take us into some pretty dark places, so stick together."

Everyone nodded.

"Okay. We need to get some rest. We'll make our jump tonight while everyone is asleep." Hera said.

As everyone said goodnight, and began to head back to their rooms, she stopped. "Ezra? Can I speak with you in the cockpit when you have a chance?"

"Sure." The Jedi followed her there. Hera closed the door behind them.

"I have the files from Skywalker." She sat down in the pilot's seat and grabbed her datapad.

"Phaedra's mom's file?"

"Yeah. Um…that's not all." She held forth her datapad to Ezra after pulling up some information. "There's footage…from her mother's death." She raised an eyebrow. "Looks like the Empire pulled it off of a security feed somewhere near where the event happened."

Ezra watched with sorrow in his eyes as the Jedi faced off against the Inquisitor and lost. It was just as Phaedra had described. Then he watched as the crying child _called_ her mother's lightsaber into her hand and stood in front of the injured woman. There were two, maybe three strikes of the blade before the Inquisitor fell and the footage went black.

"Kriffing hells." Ezra muttered as he found Hera's eyes. "I mean, she told us about this, but seeing it…is something else."

"Yeah." Hera frowned. "Should we…show it to her?"

Ezra shook his head. "My instincts say no. Not at this point."

Hera nodded. "I felt the same way."

"She's just finding her feet. It might knock her for a loop." Ezra tried to imagine what seeing a holo of his parents' death, or what happened to Kanan at Malachor would have done to him at that age. "Did they send her mother's Jedi records?"

Hera nodded again. "There was a copy of them with the holo. Apparently, Skywalker and his Jedi found a cache of Inquisitor files."

"Can I look over these tonight?" Ezra asked, holding Hera's datapad in his hand.

"Sure."

He nodded, and turned to go. Then he smiled. "Hey, kinda like old times, isn't it? Night before a mission."

"It is," she stood and grinned, reminding Ezra of Kanan in some subtle way. Then he had it. Like Kanan would have, Hera was enjoying this immensely. It had been a long time since they'd had a 'job' and he was surprised and pleased to find out that Hera had missed it as much as he had. "This one's gonna be fun."

* * *

The Great Market was an amazing place to explore. They'd gotten up early, eaten a quick breakfast, then taken a public transport from the spaceport to the sprawl of the marketplace.

It was the biggest city that Phae had ever seen. Everywhere she looked there were beings of all species moving among the crowds. Strange music drifted through the warm air. Sights and smells, some good and some bad, assaulted the senses in a cacophony of opposites. She had to struggle to keep up, but her eyes kept getting drawn to stall after stall. Some had beautiful synthsilk fabrics for sale, others sparkling jewels (some real, some not). There was a stall that contained exotic perfumes. Another had cooked meat which made her mouth water, until she saw that the heavenly scent came from cooked lizards on a stick, little crisped feet sticking out in all directions. She grimaced at the alien cook, who saw her and made a noise that might have been a laugh.

She looked up to see Sabine and Hera waiting for her patiently. "Sorry," she ran to catch up, her face coloring.

"It's fine." Sabine said. "How's the knee?" Phae had looked as if it wasn't bothering her anymore, but Hera had made her wear the brace one more day to be sure, since they would be covering a lot of ground on foot.

"Oh, it's fine." Sabine could tell that Phae wasn't the type to complain. The Mandalorian nodded and ducked to the side of the thoroughfare with them to make a call to Chop on her comm.

Hera nodded. "If you need a break, let us know. Stay close though. I don't want any of us to get separated." She frowned as she thought of how easy it would be to get lost here. "Do you have the wrist comm we gave you?"

Phae nodded back, pulling up the sleeve of the shirt she had borrowed from Sabine to show it. "Right here."

"Good. Chopper can pinpoint your position if we get separated, so just comm him." Hera hoped they'd find the weapon quickly and then possibly get Phae a few outfits. The oversized, worn out clothes she'd been wearing were ready to be thrown away at the first opportunity.

Sabine was speaking back into her comm, "Thanks, Chop." She dropped her arm. "Chop says that the weapons dealer is three streets over."

"Let's go." Hera and Phae followed Sabine.

They made their way across the square, ducking away from a blurrg stall. "Ohhh, I want to see!" Phae said.

"Nope. Keep going." Sabine said, steering her the other way.

"What's wrong?" Phae asked.

"Long story. Just suffice it to say the Spectres don't get along with blurrgs." Sabine said. "Ask Caleb about it sometime."

"You do the talking in there, Sabine. We'll back you up," Hera said.

"Got it."

It turned out to be a good idea because the man was an armorer, and Sabine was wearing her full set, painted in purples and blues. When she walked in, she drew his instant attention. Hera nodded to the gentleman, then casually worked her way around the store, looking at a blaster in a case with Phae, watching the exchange through sidelong glances.

Sabine was looking around the cases as the bald human approached. He was a broad-shouldered man with a curled steel-gray mustache. "Hello there. May I say that's a lovely set of armor you're wearing?"

She looked up, setting her helmet on the counter. "Hey, thanks. You've got a nice set of blasters here," she gestured to a pair in the case below them. Can I see one?"

The armorer nodded, pulling the pair out and allowing Sabine to examine them. "Pretty rare to find a pair so closely matched," she said thoughtfully as she handed the blasters back.

"They won't hold a candle to your Westars. Is it possible to see one? I don't think I've ever had a set like that in my shop."

Sabine lifted the replacement Westar that Kallus had given her a few years back and set it on the counter. The other one was simply too valuable to trust with anyone else. The armorer picked it up, grinning at the feel of it. "Oh, this blaster…now this one's a classic." He looked down the sights. "It's been well taken care of," he complimented her, handing it carefully back.

"Thanks. However…I was looking for something a little more…exotic than the blasters you have here," she said as she holstered her Westar.

"Oh. I see. What were you looking for? A bo-caster perhaps? I have a few…"

"No. Not a bo-caster. I love my Westars, but I have also collected a large collection of vibroblades. Blades going back to before the war, high density ones and the like. I'm afraid I've become a little bored with them." She raised an eyebrow and grinned mischeviously. "Now I'm looking for…" she looked both ways conspiratorially, then whispered, "a lightsaber."

"Oh….Now that, my lady, will be a little harder to find." The armorer said, pulling at his mustache thoughtfully. "I did see one at the Langen's auction the other night. It went for quite a bit."

"Tell me all about it." She leaned in avidly.

"Well, I saw a purple one sell for well over a million credits one time, but this last time, it was a green one. Not quite so rare."

"Mmm. My favorite color is green," she sighed, playing her part well as she looked down and adjusted one of her bracers. "Who bought it?"

"Guy from the south side bought it."

"How do you know that?" Sabine asked.

"Had a bunch of body guards. Some of Sekkak's crew. You don't want to mess with them, trust me. Crime boss. He's the type of guy who is always looking for stuff to add to his collection." He looked around the room and then lowered his voice. "There's a rumor going around that he or SOMEONE is arming his men with lightsabers, so you ladies probably want to stay away from the Southside. Not that you couldn't…uh…handle yourselves," he added apologetically, "but a few public safety officers have been killed trying to interrupt operations-that's how dangerous it is."

It was all Sabine could do to hold back the sudden rush of anger at hearing that some crime boss scum was giving his thugs lightsabers. What the kriff was up with that? Sabine took a breath and managed to smile sweetly.

"Oh, it's no problem. I might go check out this auction myself. Where do they hold it?"

"On the Northside of the market. The Langen family has a warehouse over there. They auction off gear at least every week…Last week they were selling speeders, some sets of armor, jewelry and the like."

"Well, thank you so much for the info." Sabine extended her hand and they shook.

"It was a pleasure to meet you. Come back soon!" he called after her.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, it's been past time for an update on this story. For me, the ideas ran kind of slow on this one for a while and so I wanted to figure out the perfect way to proceed. I hope this works for you, as well as it does for me. I'd love to know what you think about it!

7.

“Fried Mynock…and Rycrit stew?”  Hera sighed happily as the scent of the food wafted over her upon entering the galley. 

“Yeah.  We picked up lunch on the way home,” Ezra said.  “Sabine? Phae?  Think you might like Red Gourd Soup and Roba Pie?  We found this little Mandalorian place on the way back to the ship.”

“Mmm, Ezra.  Marry me.”  Sabine purred as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

“I’ll think about it.”  He replied with a grin.   Then he glanced to Phae. “Caleb and Zeb got Melahnese food, if that’s more to your liking.”

“I think it all smells wonderful.”  Phae murmured, as she watched them move around the kitchen, bringing the food to the table.  She could hear the love in their voices as Ezra teased Sabine and Hera questioned Caleb about what they had found.  

They were all so close…and even though she knew that they didn’t mean for her to feel this way, it made her feel unbearably alone to watch them getting dinner ready.  They were a family, and she had no one.  It made her heart ache—she hadn’t known what she was missing until now.

She was still standing and staring when Hera gave her utensils and asked her if she would set the table.  She took them and nodded. “Of…of course.”

Trying not to draw attention, Phaedra made her way over and looked around, trying to figure out what to do.  She’d never set a table in her life; nor had she really eaten at one, much.  Memories of food on the run filled her mind.  Protein bars, take-out, the occasional ration pack; there hadn’t been much variety, but she’d never gone hungry when her mother was alive. Things were different out on her own on the streets. 

Finally, she decided to set the utensils out in a pile.  Spoons all together, forks all together, and knives.  She laid the napkins on the table when she realized that her eyes were full of tears. 

Blinking furiously, she looked around the room to see if any of them had noticed, but they were all busy in the galley.  She turned away, wiping at her eyes when she felt a hand on her arm. 

“Phaedra?”

It was Caleb.  “Um…Y-yeah?”  she asked in a trembling voice, not looking at him. She rearranged a spoon that had somehow gotten in with the forks and saw her hand was trembling.

“Are you…okay?”

“I’m…I’m fine.  I just need a minute--”  Phaedra turned away and fled toward the room she was staying in, unwilling to have him see her cry. 

* * *

Ezra looked up when Phae ran from the room.  Caleb was simply standing there, looking after her with a confused expression.  The teenager brought a hand up and ran it through his thick brown hair, and Ezra was suddenly reminded of Kanan’s nervous habit.  It had been an unconscious gesture his Master had only engaged in if his hair wasn’t in its nerf tail.    

“Caleb?  What happened?”

“I felt…that she…she was sad.  I came to ask her if she was okay and she…”  he gestured, “ran away.  Did I say something wrong?”

Ezra shook his head as he carried over several food containers.  “I doubt it.  Give her a minute and then go and try to talk to her.”

Caleb nodded. 

“We’ll wait on dinner until you get back.”  Hera said softly as she and Sabine placed the thermal covers back over the containers to keep the food warm.  “In the meantime, we can share what we found.”  Hera said, motioning to Zeb, Sabine and Ezra.

“We hit one of the high-end weaponers on the East Side.  I posed as a customer looking to buy a lightsaber…”  Sabine began.

After a little while, Caleb made his way to his room, reaching out to sense the girl on the other side.  He brushed his fingertips against the door and could feel her loneliness and sorrow like a curtain, blocking her off from the rest of them.

He knocked lightly.

There was a rustling and sense of movement on the other side.  Then Caleb felt stillness.  “Come in,” she answered softly.

Caleb palmed the door and found Phae sitting on the bed, her legs hanging over the side.  Her eyes were red, but she seemed less emotional than before. 

“Hey,” he said, not knowing what to say.  He came over and sat on the other end of the bed, giving her some space. 

They both began at the same time.  “—Sorry!”

Phaedra laughed—a sad, soft little sound.  “Go ahead.”

“Can I help in some way, Phae?”  He reached over and his hand came to rest gently on hers, like a bird lighting on a branch.

She kept her hand completely still.  After a moment, she realized she was holding her breath. “No,” she let it out in a sigh, daring to look down at her hand.   “It’s…stupid.”

“Nothing you could say would be stupid,” he assured her.  She started to make a sarcastic comment, then glanced up at him and saw he was serious.

“Ok, try this.  I feel like I don’t belong here.”

He nodded once, his whole attention focused on her.  “Okay…Keep going…”

“You and your family…you’re so close.  I wish…”  she trailed off, her voice shaking a little.

He looked across the room instead of right at her, giving her some space and she continued.  “I wish I had a family like yours.”  She blurted, feeling helpless, frustrated and vulnerable.  Admitting it seemed like it rubbed her the wrong way, like gritpaper used to smooth out a harsh edge.

Caleb nodded slowly.  “I guess my family’s hard to get to know because we **are** so close.  The adults…they went through a lot during the war.  So many people my mom knew…and flew with…died.  Pilots she taught…killed by the Empire.  My dad…he died saving Lothal.  Ezra was my father’s Padawan and when my dad died…it did something to him.  He was really sad.  For a long time.”  He stared down at their hands, which were now intertwined and he could not remember when or how her fingers had closed into his own, but he squeezed her hand back tightly.  He had never been able to talk about this with anyone before.

“I can sense his sadness,” Phae said.  “The other morning…he was meditating.  When he showed me how, I could feel the sadness...like clouds around him. Coming and going.”

Caleb nodded.  “You know, Ezra saved me when I was eight.  He fought one of those Inquisitors and lost the sight in his eye to get me back and keep me safe.  Sabine got taken too, and Ezra came after us.”

“What happened?”

“We were kidnapped.  The Inquisitor wanted to make me into…a darksider.” He shuddered.

She shook her head, biting her bottom lip.  “Did…did they hurt you?”

He shook his head.  “Not me.  Not really.  I had a lot of bad dreams for a while.  Sabine…the Inquisitor hurt her, but she was okay in the end.  Ezra saved us.”  He remembered the bad dreams that Sabine had had for a while afterwards.  One time after hearing a cry in the hallway, he’d opened his door to see Sabine crouched in the hallway with Ezra’s arms around her.  “It’s okay, Caleb.  Go back to bed.”  He had whispered, holding his wife close to soothe her terror.  It was a long time before those dreams subsided, and Caleb had never forgotten seeing Sabine look so lost and vulnerable.

“Wow.”  She shook her head.

“You know, he’s a Jedi, but I’m supposed to say that he’s just a man like everyone else…that the Force doesn’t make anyone special…but I think he’s pretty special.”  Caleb blushed, scuffing a foot on the floor. “I can’t help it.”

“Me...either,” she whispered, scanning the face of the young man.  She could see the light green freckles sprinkled over his nose and cheeks, and his smile sent a shiver through her that was pleasantly warm.  “He seems like he would be a good Jedi Master.  I—uh mean…not that I would know…”  she faltered.  “I just um…he seems so nice.”

“You know I never told anyone about all of that.”

“Not even your friends?”  Phae asked.

“Nah.  They wouldn’t understand…they weren’t…Force sensitives like you.” 

She blushed.  “I’m glad you shared it with me.”  She thought about how she’d never told any of her street friends about her mother, and she realized she understood his reason why.  “What about…about your father?”

Caleb stilled and took a breath as if trying to figure out what to say.

“Oh my god.  I’m sorry.  I forgot he had passed,” she shook her head, looking down.  “It was stupid of me to ask.”

“No.”  He squeezed her hand.  “It’s okay.  He died before I was born.”

Her eyes darted to him.  “He was a Jedi?”

“Yeah.  This was his lightsaber.”  Caleb pulled his father’s saber from his belt and looked at the simple hilt.  It was then Phae realized that Caleb had allowed her to use his father’s saber when they had practiced the moves that he’d called “forms.”

“Wow.  You let me use your _father’s_ lightsaber?  Kriff, Caleb.”

He shrugged. “You might decide to be a Jedi someday.”

She blushed again, “I…I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet him.”

“But I did meet him.  One time on Lothal.”  He glanced at her, one of his arched eyebrows raised.  He had a half-smile on his features, as if he’d just shared a secret with her.

“How?”  She squeezed his hand and leaned in.

“You probably won’t believe it.”

“Come on, Caleb!  Try me.” 

“Okay.  When you’re a Jedi Padawan, you get tested by the Force before you get your lightsaber crystal and build your own weapon.  It happened in one of the caves near the vergence on Lothal when I was just a kid.  My dad…he was there when it was over.  We spoke for a few minutes, and then…he was gone.”

Her eyes were wide.  “How?”

He shook his head. “The will of the Force, I guess.  I don’t think it’s something that was easy.  The vergences on Lothal are strange that way.”

“What’s a vergence?”

“Oh, right.  It’s where the Force concentrates.  There are some places that are strong with the light side of the Force, and some places that are full of the dark side.  Things…happen differently in places like that.  I think my father was able to…to come back because of the vergence.  He had some sort of deep connection with Lothal, like Ezra.”

“I believe you.”  She thought for a long moment, then asked tentatively.  “Caleb…could…I mean do you think I could talk to my mother there?”

He shrugged.  “I’m not sure.  We’d have to ask Ezra.  He’s studied the vergences on Lothal and he might know.”  Caleb said, glancing toward the door, feeling a brush along his bond with Ezra.  _Everything ok?_ It seemed to say.  He sent back reassurance and stood up, still holding Phae’s hand.  “Look.  If you’re feeling better, let’s go back out.  They’re waiting on us for dinner.”

She nodded, letting him lead her back out to the common area and the family waiting for them.

* * *

“So.  We hit the Langen’s auction in two days?”  Ezra nodded slowly at Zeb’s question.

They were finishing up dinner and finalizing their plans.  Phae and Caleb had entered the common area, hand in hand until both Ezra and Zeb had noticed.  The Lasat had smacked Ezra on the shoulder and nodded in their direction.  When Caleb and Phae had realized they were still holding hands, they’d dropped them immediately, but with an apologetic glance to each other.

“I want a look inside this place before we go,” Sabine said.  “I may go scout the place tomorrow before the auction.”

“I’d like to see this Sekkak.”  Ezra said thoughtfully.  “He could be…like our old friend Tarek.” He cast his glance around meaningfully.  “I should check with Alexsandr and see what he knows.”

“I think we should take down this Sekkak, whether he’s a Force user or not.”  Hera said.  “I’ll go see what I can find out from the local authorities tomorrow.”

“Be careful.”  Ezra murmured.  “Sekkak might have them on the payroll…”

“Don’t worry.”  Hera replied, taking a sip of caf.

“Mom.  Phae and I can go with you.  Just in case I can help talk them into it.”  Caleb grinned.

Ezra raised an eyebrow.  “He’s been a bit over-eager to use the mind trick.” 

“So were you, once upon a time.”  Hera said with a grin.  “Good idea, Caleb.” 

“I’ll go with Sabine.” Zeb said after a moment’s thought.  “It’s probably a good idea to have a backup, just in case the Langen’s have connections with the crime boss too.”

“Alright.  Sounds like a plan.”  Ezra said.  “It’s Zeb and Hera’s turn to clean up the dishes, right?”

“Yeah.”  Zeb got up with Hera. 

“So, Caleb…that means…”

“I know.  Meditation practice?”  Caleb stood up.  

“Yeah.  I’ll be there in a minute.  Let’s try the cargo bay this time.  Try levitating some things.  Maybe some saber practice, so get the bay ready.” Ezra said. 

“Can Phae come?” Caleb asked.

“As long as you don’t try and show off like the other day.”  Ezra gently jibed at him. “A Jedi…”

“Is not concerned with public opinion OR attention.”  Caleb finished with a cocky grin. 

“Nice, hotshot.”  Ezra got to his feet.  “Get ready to go to school, kid.”

“Just remember…”  Caleb said, walking backwards toward the cargo bay.  “One day, the student will become the master.”

“You’ve got a way to go still, Padawan.”  Ezra teased.                      

Caleb grinned and was gone, but Phaedra lingered behind.  “I’ll be along in a minute,” she called.  Following Ezra to the door of his quarters, she struggled to find the right way to phrase her question.  The Jedi was grabbing his saber when he spoke to the girl behind him.  “What is it, Phae?”  He turned to face her.

“I…uh…have a question.”  She caught his bicolored gaze again and thought about what Caleb had said.  The Jedi standing in front of her was a hero.  He’d fought in the Rebellion and lost his sight to save Caleb from some Force wielding monster like the one that had killed her mother.  She wasn’t worthy to ask him anything, she thought as she bit her lip.

“Sure.”  He stepped toward her and put a hand on her shoulder.  “Go ahead.”

“I…this is not so easy.”  She took a steadying breath.  “Ok, Caleb told me about his father.  About being able to communicate with him at the ver…verge….”

“Vergence?”   Ezra nodded.

“Yeah.  On Lothal.  Is there any way I could…go there?  Do…do you think my mother might…um…be able to talk to me there?”

Ezra could feel her gossamer hope, and didn’t want to be so quick to dash it.  “I don’t know, Phaedra.  To be completely honest, I didn’t know that my Master could do what he did, and it’s not something that you can control.  As far as I know, his Master never communicated with him after she died.”  He thought about stories he’d heard from Skywalker.  “I think some Jedi seem to be able to manifest themselves after death, but others maybe just don’t.”

Her brow crinkled.  “Oh.”

“It could be that they’re not strong enough with the Force or they don’t know how to do it.  I’m not sure.”  He laid a hand on her shoulder and went on.  “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try.  Just don’t get your hopes up.  The Force moves in its own way and time.  We’ll get this job done first.  Then you can come with us to Lothal.”

She nodded, trying not to look too excited.  “Thank you…so much.”

“Yeah.  No problem.  Come on and let’s go give Caleb a hard time,” Ezra said with a conspirator’s grin. 

* * *

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, let me apologize for the long intervals between updates. I have been working on "Broken" and this story and things are proving to be more difficult than they should have been. However, I made some progress on this story, so I hope you enjoy the update. Hopefully things will get better and the muse will be kind, and I will be turning out one chapter a week like before. Reviews help me keep going during the tough times, so let me hear from you! Thanks for being patient, too.

8

The Spectres departed in the late morning. Phae, Caleb and Hera had some quick shopping to do and would visit the local security office afterwards.  Zeb and Sabine had left a little later, planning on surveilling the Langan Auction headquarters.  They were all gone by the time Ezra went to comm Kallus.  The agent was at home, and Ezra hadn’t wanted to call too early.  He had been expecting Kallus to answer but was surprised when a different face appeared.

Roxi Shan. 

The years had been kind to the one-time kidnapper and bounty hunger, whose eyes widened when she saw Ezra.  It was evident that she hadn’t expected him on the other end.  “Oh!  Hello…Mr…Br—Master Bridger…”  she blushed.

Ezra smiled.  “Just Ezra, please.  How are you?”

“Fine,” she said.  “How’s everyone on Lothal?”

“We’re great.”  Ezra had only spoken with the woman a handful of times since his recovery at the medcenter after that first horrible battle with Tarek, but he had kept up with her through Alexsandr over the years.  Roxi had flourished in the New Republic under Alexsandr’s watchful eye; under his tutelage she had become an agent for the New Republic’s Department of Intelligence, and she’d eventually risen to become one of the most valued agents in the ranks. 

“Who is it?”  Kallus’s voice came across the comm.

“Ezra Bridger.”  Roxi glanced back and stood, to allow Kallus to sit near the holoprojector.  Ezra didn’t miss the way she brushed one of his shoulders with her hand and moved out of the viewer.

“No wonder you haven’t had time to visit us.”  Ezra said with a teasing grin. 

Kallus colored and cleared his throat.  “Well, it’s…fairly a recent development.” 

There was a feminine chuckle from off screen. 

“Alexsandr, no one deserves happiness more than you.”  Ezra said, letting him off the hook.   

Kallus was still blushing. “Well, I no longer supervise her directly, so it **is** acceptable and within department guidelines.”

Trust Kallus to cite the rulebook, Ezra thought with an inward chuckle.  “Wait until I tell Hera.  She’ll be thrilled for you two.”

“Um…well, yes.” Kallus nodded.  “Thank you, of course.” 

“Yeah.  Well, I was calling to ask if you had gotten the information about our local bad guy, Sekkak.”  Ezra had called the night before, and Kallus had promised to pull everything he could. 

“Oh yes.”  Kallus rummaged around in his desk and found a data file.  “This is Marcel Sekkak.”  A holo of a man with an unhappy frown on his features came up.  He was dark haired, with pale skin and a spreading bruise on his face.

“He’s younger than I thought.” The man was surely no older than 18 in the holo, Ezra surmised.  He had a hungry look—there was a cruelness to his eyes that seemed to announce itself from the holo.

“That’s his ‘intake’ scan—it’s old.  He was another Inquisitor in training.  An apprentice of the Ninth Brother.” 

Ezra ran through the Inquisitors in his mind.  “Never heard of him.”

“Ah, that’s because Nine, in true darksider style, decided to make his move to take out his Master, the Grand Inquisitor.  You can guess how that went.”

“Hmm.”  Ezra nodded, remembering the cruel Pau’an that had almost killed him.

“Apparently, after the death of the Ninth Brother, our target here had to flee.  He must feel it’s safe to come out now.”

“Yeah.  He’s equipping his men with lightsabers.” 

Kallus raised an eyebrow.  “This **_is_** alarming.”

“Yeah.”  Ezra said grimly. 

Kallus began tapping on a datapad.  “I can send…”

“Not just yet.”  Ezra shook his head and Kallus looked up, “I think the Force has guided us here…at the right place at the right time to stop this criminal.  It’s good to know what I’m dealing with, though, so thanks.”  Ezra nodded. 

“Ezra…are you certain?  I’m sure I have operatives that can be there in practically no time.”

“Let me find out what we are dealing with first.  I’ll be in touch. It was good to see you, Roxi.”

She peeked back into the frame.  “You too, Ezra.  Please let us know if you need anything further.  I can be there in a few quick hyperspace jumps with whatever you need.”

“Thanks, but we’re good at this point.  I’ll keep you both appraised of the situation.  Have a wonderful…”  he had think a minute and figure out what time it was there,  “afternoon.”

He signed off and chuckled a little to himself.  He shouldn’t have been surprised that Roxi and Kallus had fallen for each other; it had been clear that she had always been in awe of the former Imperial agent.  Kallus too, had always kept a watchful eye on the half-Theelin woman.  Both Hera and Zeb would be delighted to find out about the match.

He stood up and headed back to his quarters, strapping on his blaster and hanging his lightsaber from his belt.  He pulled on a jacket to hide the saber.  Now that he knew what he was dealing with, he wanted to be prepared for anything.

The walk to the Southside gave him enough time to think about what they should do.  It was clear now that they were going to have to take Sekkak out.  It was probable he was locating Force-sensitives and training them as darksiders, and that couldn’t be allowed to go on, no matter what.  At the best, he was training non-sensitives to use lightsabers, and Ezra couldn’t allow that either.

He pulled up his hood and thrust his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he moved from the tree lined area of the great market to the more industrial sprawl of the Southside.  It was fall on Jantal, and even though it was early mid-afternoon, there was a chill in the air. 

He made his way past more than a few seedy bars, hotels and brothels sprinkled throughout the streets like garish neon glitter.  He was passing the fourth bar when he picked up someone following him.  He smirked as he continued on, neither increasing nor decreasing his pace.  This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Sabine placed her back against the wall again as she checked the time on her comm.  “It’s been almost an hour and we’ve seen nothing,” she whispered to Zeb, whose turn it was to watch. They were on the roof of the Langen Auction House.  They’d only seen one man, setting up chairs for the auction tomorrow night in the large room below the skylight, but since then there’d been nothing.

“Look, you’ve gotta be patient, kit.”  Zeb murmured.  “It’s—wait.  I see someone.”  His ears twitched and Sabine turned to peer into the skylight as well.  Two men were standing in the auction room having a conversation, but they couldn’t hear what was being said. 

“I want to get a closer look.”  Sabine whispered.  She headed for the corner of the building where the door to the lower two floors was.  “Stay here.”

“Wait—”

“Stay here, Zeb.”  She knew the door would be locked, but she tried it anyway.  It didn’t open; reaching into a backpack, she pulled a screwdriver and had the plate off of the door in 30 seconds.  She took a pair of snips, clipped several wires and the door slid open.

“Hold this.”  She stashed the tools back in the bag and gave it to Zeb.  Then she drew a blaster and entered the stairway. 

“Be careful,” Zeb whispered.

Sabine nodded as she made her way down the hallway, using the HUD in her helmet to detect heat signatures, but she saw no one.  The next floor down from the roof was an upper loft area, filled with a few computer terminals.  Expensive artwork adorned the walls.  Ignoring the computer terminals and the art for now, she crept to the balcony of the loft and looked over. 

There were voices down below. 

“All I’m saying is that HE wants to make sure you have the merchandise for sale tomorrow before he sends over a proxy.”

“As far as I know, the seller will appear with the item at six PM tomorrow.  He requested to remain anonymous, so that’s all I can tell you.”  This must be the auction house employee talking, Sabine realized as she leaned forward and enhanced the audio in her helmet.

She didn’t need to however, because they began walking closer to the balcony.  She ducked back. 

“Very well,” said the first voice.  “Just remember that my employer wishes to be notified if any item such as this ever comes up for sale.  A yellow blade is a rare acquisition.”

Sabine looked around the corner again, and saw that the man speaking was dressed in a few pieces of assorted armor.  What she saw on his back made her pulse pound.  He carried an Inquisitor blade--there was no missing the semi-circular construction.   

“Zeb.  I see an Inquisitor blade on a man inside,” she hissed over their private comm network.  The two men walked toward the back of the building.  At the same moment, Sabine heard the turbolift doors open on the loft floor.  She held her breath.  

“Hey!  What are you doing up here?”  An angry, heavyset blond man was headed her way, his hand reaching for a blaster at his hip.        

“Time to go!”  Sabine called over the comm to Zeb.  She pulled her blaster, and turned toward the lift.  Too late, though, she realized someone was targeting her from down below as well.  As she shot at the man from the lift, another shot blew a chip out of the wall she’d just been leaning on just before she had ducked.  As she ran, the next shot burst hotly against her side and she went down on one knee, skidding in the direction of the stairway.

As she fired at the man from the lift again, she heard the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber igniting. There was a whistling sound through the air as the blade hummed past her, a whirling circle of red death.  Had she still been standing, she would have been dead, she realized.  The saber embedded itself in the wall behind her, but was pulled back to its owner’s hand below with the Force. 

“The guy carrying the blade is a darksider!” she cried over the comm, pulling a flash grenade.  She willed herself to her feet as she aimed the grenade in the area from where the shots had originated.  Firing to make the blond duck down again and back off, she threw the grenade as she fled for the stairs. As much as she wanted to fight, it was a better plan to get out before the Force-user with the Inquisitor’s blade reached her.  Zeb met her half-way down the stairs. They gained the roof, and he fired a blaster shot into the disabled lock panel, which caused the durasteel door to hiss shut.  “We’ll jump to the next roof,” he said.

It was a slight leap downward, and Zeb jumped first, easily making the next building.  “I got you, kit.”  He called as he held out his paws, just in case Sabine was a little short.  She backed up to get a running start as she heard someone slicing through the thick access door to the roof.  She leaped and was short, but Zeb’s arms caught her. 

“You’re bleeding,” he said as he felt the dampness against his fur.

“It’s not important.  Run,” she said, as she looked backwards and saw the glow of a red blade coming through the durasteel door.  “NOW!”

They didn’t slow until they had run across no less than seven rooftops.  By the eighth one, Sabine was grimacing.  On this roof, there was a little boy bouncing a blue ball.  He was the first person they’d seen during their flight and upon seeing them, the child stopped and looked at them with large, frightened brown eyes.

“Kid, I’ll give you twenty credits to show us the way to the street,” Zeb said.

The boy’s eyes went wide.  “This way…” he said, bringing them to the door on the roof and activating it with a code.

They followed the boy down, with Zeb closing the door behind them and punching the lock pad so hard it broke on the inside.  He held one arm around Sabine as they eased down the stairs. 

“Getting hurt was stupid.” Sabine muttered.  “I hope Ezra didn’t run into anything like that…”

“Don’t you worry about Ezra,”  Zeb said.  “The best thing we can do for him right now is to get you back safe.”

As they climbed down the stairs, Zeb realized they were in a run-down apartment building. “How many more floors, kid?” he called. 

“Five more.”

Sabine groaned and sagged against the Lasat.

“Come on, kit.  Put that Mandalorian grit to use.” Zeb gently jibed, knowing it would keep her going.

“I might just shoot you for that, Zeb,” she deadpanned as she lifted her head.

The kid looked over his shoulder with wide eyes. 

“Just kidding…I’m kidding,” Sabine said.  “Come on.” She took a deep breath and started moving again.

* * *

Ezra entered the first abandoned warehouse he came to, strolling past abandoned equipment, until they were far enough out of sight of any passers-by.  Then he stopped, stretching out his Force senses easily. 

He heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber being ignited.  So, his enemy had come to him, he smiled to himself. 

“Gimme your credits.  Now.”  The voice was rough and angry.

Ezra smirked as he turned to see the pale blue light cast by the thug’s saber.  The Jedi extended his hand and his own lightsaber smacked into his palm with a satisfying thwap; he ignited it and pointed it at his opponent.  “That blade does not belong to you.”  He could tell that the man facing him was not a Force-sensitive from his weak signature in the Force.

“Yeah?  Well, kriff you!”  The man snarled as Ezra moved his saber into a Form III stance. 

“Give me the blade and you can go,” Ezra said.  “It’s more than you deserve.”  He could feel the cruelty in the man’s thoughts, but Ezra still gave him a chance to do the right thing. 

The thug swung for him, and the Jedi blocked easily, drawing him out by retreating and blocking the frenzied, sloppy attacks, until he saw the depth of his opponent’s training.  The man showed some evidence of having rudimentary skill.  He was switching back and forth from a few Form I attacks to wild slashing movements, akin to some sort of Form VII offense.  He wasn’t good at it.

“Who gave you this weapon?”  Ezra asked, coming back with a Form V attack, driving the criminal back towards a far wall.  “You’re carrying a Jedi’s blade.  You **WILL** tell me what I want to know,” he said, pushing with the Force.

The man let out a harsh laugh as he answered.  “You can’t use the Jedi mind trick on me.” 

“Very well.”  Ezra replied, continuing his powerful strikes. 

“Sekkak will crush you, Jedi.”  He said, his teeth clenched in hate.  “My Master is powerful with the dark side.”

Ezra smirked.  “But if his men are as untrained as you, he will lose.” He threw a wave of Force energy at Sekkak’s follower and slammed him against the wall so hard that his lightsaber went flying.

Ezra motioned with his hand and the hilt flew into his grip.  Lowering his blade, he hooked the unfamiliar saber on his belt.  As he did, the Force flared. Trusting completely in it, he used his blade to deflect the blaster bolt back into his opponent without conscious thought.  As the man fell lifeless, his holdout blaster went skittering across the floor.

About to search the thug, Ezra felt a tug along his bond with Sabine.  At the same moment, he startled as he both heard Kanan’s voice at his left ear and felt a hand on his shoulder.  “Listen to the Force, Ezra.”

Kanan had told him many times that he had a talent for making connections with others, and he’d had a deep bond with his Master, almost from the beginning.  It had taken him a while to realize that his talent had helped him forge bonds with everyone on the _Ghost_ team.  The bonds weren’t like the one he’d had with Kanan, or like the one he had formed with Caleb, but they were there just the same.  Something was wrong with Sabine and he needed to get to her right away.

He tucked his lightsaber into his belt and left at a near run, winding his way back through the streets toward where he felt his connection with her.

* * *

Upon arriving at the station, Hera, Caleb and Phae had been asked to wait inside Security Chief Catton’s office.  They’d been told he would be with them in a few moments.  “He needs to hurry UP!”  Phae growled, looking over her shoulder at the tall human with a crew cut who was obviously the chief by his insignia on his uniform.  He was outside the office, talking to someone’s holo for the last 15 minutes.  “I wonder what’s taking him so long.”

“Don’t know.”  Caleb said to himself as he settled back on the bench next to Phae.  He watched her in profile, noticing the graceful lines of her face once more.  She was beautiful, even as she bit her lip in frustration and narrowed her eyes at the target of her annoyance.

Hera was in front of them, sitting in the chair across from the chief’s desk.  “Staring at him isn’t going to make him come in here any faster.”  Hera said, a hint of a smile on her features.  “Caleb, what would Ezra tell you to do right now?”

“To listen to the Force.”  Caleb said as he continued to steal glances at Phae.  She huffed in frustration, turned and threw herself back against the bench, chewing on her bottom lip. 

“You gotta be patient, Phae.”  Caleb murmured, brushing the back of her hand with the back of his own.  She glanced up and smiled reluctantly. 

“Okay, but I don’t do—this,” she gestured. 

“What?”

She sighed with frustration.  “Waiting.”  She began to bounce her knee impatiently.

“Caleb, see what you can feel in the Force.”  Hera suggested in a low voice.  “We can use all the help we can get.”

Caleb closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.  Then he spoke again softly, “He’s on his way.  He doesn’t want to meet with us, but isn’t sure why.” There was a pause for a moment, then Caleb said “Wait.  It’s my lightsabers.  He saw my lightsabers and they make him uneasy.”

Hera nodded.  “Good to know.”

Phae glanced at Caleb, suitably impressed.  The young half-Twi’lek murmured, “Wait.  He’s coming.”

The Security Chief entered the room, running a hand nervously over his crew cut.  He was an older man, just a touch younger than Kallus, Hera realized as she was able to get a better look at him.  “Ah, yes.  Sorry about the delay, ma’am. I had to handle a situation rather quickly.”

“Everything okay?” Hera raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, it’s fine.”  Hera nodded as Chief Catton settled into the chair behind his desk with a sigh.  “Old bones are getting a little creaky.”  He laughed gently.  “Now, what may I do for you?  Are you visitors to our fair city?”  Again, his eyes brushed over Caleb’s lightsabers nervously.

“Yes.”  Hera said.  “My name is Hera Syndulla.  These are my children, Caleb and Phae.  They’re traveling with me.”

“Syndulla.  Where have I heard that name before…”  The security chief stroked his beard.  “Syndulla…I know I’ve…”

“I was General Syndulla during the war; perhaps that’s why it seems familar.”  Hera said with a tight smile.  Caleb could feel how she hated throwing her title around, but knew it was one of the quickest ways to open doors and achieve her objective.  “I am a close colleague of the New Republic’s Inspector General of Intelligence, Alexsandr Kallus.”

“Ah yes. He has written a wonderful monograph on city security,” Catton said, his brown eyes lighting up as he leaned forward.  “I know much about him.”

“He is certainly a shining light in our New Republic, and one of my very close friends.  To get to the reason I’m here:  Inspector Kallus has heard some disturbing news about the Great Market.  He has heard that there are thugs with lightsabers stalking the streets.  Can you explain what’s going on, so I can relay the information back to the Inspector General?”

A strange expression flitted over Catton’s face.  “General Syndulla…unfortunately I have no information on such a subject.  I have had reports of people robbed by this gang, but we cannot substantiate the incredible claims that the perpetrators were carrying lightsabers.”  He cleared his throat, glancing again at the weapons that hung at Caleb’s hip.  “We have been tracking these men, but so far have found nothing.  It will probably turn out to be someone’s idea of a joke.”

“But haven’t you lost men recently?  Men who decided to investigate these claims?”

“I know nothing about that.  We have lost two officers, and we’re currently investigating the causes for their death.  As of yet, we’ve found nothing.”

“Really?  That is disappointing.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t comment on these unsubstantiated rumors.”

“I think I understand.”  Hera replied thoughtfully.

“Mom?  May I ask a question?”  Caleb stood and took a few steps in her direction.   She turned to gaze at him, hoping Chief Catton would do likewise.  The security chief cleared his throat nervously as he faced the young Jedi. 

“You seem a little nervous, but please don’t be.  You will tell us what you know about the gang carrying lightsabers.” Caleb stayed calm as he _pushed_ with the Force.

“I know nothing about men with lightsabers.”  Catton’s eyes became blank and unfocused.  “They are a nuisance only, and really not worth bothering about.”

There was a furrow of worry on Caleb’s forehead.  Chief Catton’s mind was a cold block of durasteel.

“You WILL tell me about the gang in town that carries lightsabers.  Now.”  Caleb pushed harder.

“I know nothing about men with lightsabers.  They are a nuisance only, and really not worth bothering about.”  Where they’d seen a focused expression and business-like air on Catton’s face before, they now saw nothing. 

The man remained still and quiet as Caleb glanced at Hera.  “I don’t know…I think he’s been mind tricked before, maybe.  I know I did it right.  He should be telling us everything, but there’s…nothing there.”

“Alright.  It’s okay, Cale.”  Hera said, squeezing his arm. 

Caleb released his hold on the Force and Catton sat back, blinking as if he wasn’t very sure what had just happened.

“Since you’re not feeling well, we’ll leave you alone, Chief Catton.”  Hera said, standing up. Caleb and Phae followed. 

“Oh, um…alright.”  Catton was in a suggestible state, Hera knew, and this would work for getting them out quickly.  They were almost to the door when Catton rose nervously.  “Oh, General Syndulla.  I hope you will report favorably to the Inspector General?” 

“Oh, have no fear, Chief Catton.  We will report that local security forces are doing their best against this threat.  I would think the Inspector General will send forces to help with this much sooner than you realize.  I’m sure he’ll be in touch.”

As they made their way outside, Caleb felt Ezra reach out along their bond.  He stopped in the street, concentrating inwardly.

“You okay?”  Phae raised an eyebrow.  There was a strange look on the young Jedi’s face and his eyes were far away.  She took his hand, but his fingers were slack.  “Caleb?”

Hera came back.  “What is it, sweetheart?”

“Ezra.  There’s something wrong.  He’s checking on us.”  Caleb focused and sent back a wave of reassurance that they were okay. 

Phae glanced to Hera, worry in her eyes, then they both looked back at Caleb.  Suddenly Cale’s hand tightened on her own.  “It’s Bean.  Sabine’s hurt or something’s wrong or…”  Caleb blinked a few times, clearing his eyes.  “Ezra’s worried.”  His master was trying to hide it, but their bond throbbed with a growing apprehension.  He searched his mom’s eyes while still holding onto Phae’s hand.

“Where are they?”

_Almost home,_ he felt over the bond.  Ezra was sending back a reassurance, but it rang hollow in the Force.

“The _Ghost_.  We need to get back there, now.”

“Let’s go,” Hera said, letting Caleb and Phae lead the way. 

* * *

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. New chapter is done, so here you go. This story is drawing to a close in the next five chapters or so, but all my writing seems to be coming r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y lately. Any comments you might have would be incredibly motivating!

9.

By the time they had reached the _Ghost_ , Zeb was carrying Sabine. He had commed Chopper about any medcenters in the area, but found that the _Ghost's_ medbay was closer. Of course, Sabine had protested when he'd lifted her into his arms, but he'd ignored her. By the time he reached the Ghost, she had settled against him with her eyes closed, which was either a really good thing or a really bad thing.

"Sabine…say something," he rumbled as he clutched her a little closer.

"How close are we?" she rasped out, opening her eyes only a little.

"We're here." Zeb looked up to see the cargo bay ramp opening. The murder droid had come through after all, the Lasat thought with a smirk. He carried Sabine to the medbay, and gently sat her on the bed. Her head hung low, and he could feel the pain in her every breath. "I'm going to find the painkiller and the coagulant, okay kit?"

"Yep," she said, her breath heavy. She realized he always called her kit when he was taking care of her, and it caused a pale smile on her face. "Zeb, I'm feeling a little dizzy too."

"Yeah, I'm here." Zeb came over quickly, baring her arm and providing a sprayhypo of painkiller. Then he helped her lay down on her good side, so that the blaster wound was visible. The Lasat began to remove pieces of armor, then said, "I need to slide up your shirt to get this as close to the wound as possible."

"Mmm-hmm." She murmured, her eyes drifting closed as the painkiller took effect. Zeb pressed the other hypo gently against the skin under her ribs. She winced, but then the tension in her face eased.

Zeb was relieved to see the bleeding slow. He had turned to find a pair of scissors to cut the shirt away from her wound when footsteps made him turn.

Ezra was there. He didn't linger in the doorway, but came immediately to Sabine's side and knelt so that his face was even with her own. He smoothed back her hair with a gentle touch. "Bean? You okay?"

"Yeah." She opened her eyes. "It's just a graze."

He kissed her forehead. "Just rest. We'll slap some engine tape on it—it'll be okay."

He stood and watched Zeb cutting away the side of her shirt so he could reach her wound. It was a bit more than a graze. It was a blaster wound, not quite all the way up to the bottom of her undergarment. It was deep, but not to the point that she'd need a bacta tank. With a small pair of tweezers and a practiced hand, Ezra began picking out small shreds of clothing where they were embedded into the burned and torn flesh. An inch or more to the right and they would have been dealing with internal organ damage. He let his gratitude flow into the Force as he focused on his task.

When he was done, Zeb handed him the bacta. Ezra gently slathered it on and Sabine's soft groans turned to sighs of relief. While Zeb bandaged her up, Ezra brushed his fingers along her hair and took her hand.

"Does she need a medcenter?" Ezra asked.

"We got back here pretty fast, and I've got the bleeding stopped, so I don't think so. If she gets a fever, then maybe, but for now, I think she's gonna be okay." Zeb told Ezra. "She scared me though."

Ezra was about to ask what had happened, but Hera spoke first from the doorway.

"Ezra…Zeb…How is she?"

"She's stable." Zeb said. "If it had taken us five or ten more minutes to get here…I'm not so sure. But we're good."

Sabine opened bleary eyes and began to adjust herself on the small medical bed to get more comfortable.

"Don't move too much. We can't risk any more bleeding." Ezra placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry…feel fine. Wanna go upstairs." She tried to sit up.

"No can do, kit." Zeb said. "Not right now."

She was obviously irritated as she rolled her eyes. "Fine." It was the most protest she could give before she fell back asleep again. Ezra took her hand.

"Thanks for getting her here." Ezra said in a tight voice as he met Zeb's eyes.

"You bet." Zeb nodded.

There was a sniffle.

Ezra looked over his shoulder and saw two worried faces peeking in. Caleb was obviously worried, but Phae was inconsolable. "I'm so sorry," she said, tears streaking down her face. "Is she…is she gonna be ok?"

"Yeah. Come here." Ezra held out both arms and the teens came over and leaned against him. Phae was openly crying; Caleb was composed, but he looked pale and his emotions were rolling like choppy water during a storm. "She's going to be fine. It was a blaster shot—it caused some bleeding, but she's okay now. She's going to be fine."

"But…but it's my fault." Phae managed. "I should never have involved you all in this."

"Nothing is your fault. We don't even know what happened," Ezra said, holding them close. Finally, he let them go and looked down at first Caleb, then Phae. "Now go upstairs. I'll get Sabine settled, then I'll be back up top. We'll figure this thing out together, okay?"

They nodded, and turned to go.

Ezra returned to the bed where Hera was removing Sabine's boots to make her more comfortable. "What happened, Zeb?"

"There were two people at the auction house. Sabine went down to get a closer look before she knew one was carrying an Inquisitor blade. The guy came for her. We barely got out of there, Ezra. He cut his way through the door and was following us, but thank the Ashla, we had a head start."

Ezra nodded, tucking a blanket around Sabine. "Was it their leader?"

Zeb shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Hera thought a moment, then spoke up. "We met the Security Chief. He's…strange."

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"Caleb could tell that he'd been mind tricked to forget anything about Force users or lightsaber wielding thugs. He will tell you more about the details, I'm sure. The man seemed a little confused to me, but well-meaning. He wanted to know how his men got killed, but he just had no clue."

Ezra nodded thoughtfully. "I was attacked by one of those lightsaber wielding thugs, not long after I passed into the Southside."

"A darksider?" Hera asked.

Ezra shook his head. "He had been trained, but was not Force sensitive."

"You obviously won," Zeb said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I liberated the saber." Ezra pulled it from his belt, looking at the construction of it. He couldn't help wondering where it came from. Some Padawan had spent his or her time crafting the hilt after being awarded a kyber crystal, and holding such a personal object of someone else's did something to him. He could sense the kyber crystal inside murmuring its sad song, and knew that the Force user that had owned this blade had been dead a long time. It made him sad, and he realized that he probably now knew how Kanan had felt. Being one of the last Jedi was lonely.

When had this Jedi met his or her end? He touched the activation button and the light green blade flared to life. He contemplated it as the weapon cast a glow around the room. "The guy pulled a blaster on me, and he didn't make it." He extinguished the blade and remained looking down at it as the crystal went silent again.

Hera took a step and put an arm around Ezra. "I'm glad you made it back safe."

He leaned in, taking comfort from her strength. "Thanks, Hera." His eyes drifted to Sabine's sleeping face. "I need to talk to Caleb before we decide on the next steps. Zeb…mind staying with her?"

"No problem." Zeb said, pulling down the jump seat beside the bed.

Ezra and Hera headed to the upper level.

* * *

"Hey, it's okay." Caleb said, reaching out to brush Phae's arm with his fingertips. Her knee hadn't stopped bouncing since they sat down.

"Yeah." Phae said morosely, not sounding convinced. Her arms were wrapped around herself as if she were cold, but Caleb reached out and took her hands in his own.

"You've gotta calm down. Look, just breathe."

She was reluctant at first, letting out a sigh and rolling her eyes, but then, as he waited patiently, she began to take slow even breaths, copying his example.

"That's right." He nodded. "Now close your eyes." He demonstrated, taking a small amount of the Force and giving her a gentle nudge toward calming her mind. Ezra had used this technique after he'd returned home from being kidnapped by Tarek. There had been some bad dreams, until Ezra had helped him get them under control. Helping Bean had taken longer, but thanks to Ezra, they'd both gotten better.

"This…is nice." She breathed out softly. "I feel…better."

"Yeah." He had to admit it—it WAS nice. Sitting and holding hands with her did something warm to his heart. She felt the flutter over the Force and opened her eyes wide.

"What was that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What was what?" he asked, leaning in with a slight smile on his face. He could see a slight flush on her lips and cheeks and her brown eyes were so dark they were almost black.

"That feeling in the Force. It was…pretty…amazing," she bit her lip as they drew closer together.

Caleb could see himself kissing her, and was inches from doing so when he heard the tink, tink, tink, of Hera and Ezra coming up the ladder. He drew back but gave her hands a squeeze. He knew he was beginning to like her more and more, the longer they spent together. She wasn't the first girl who had caught his eye—there'd been that girl who worked at the repair shop in the city, but he hadn't had much luck with her. She'd probably been too shy to talk with him or too in awe of who he was. It seemed like everyone on Lothal knew his family.

And his family had been very protective of him. He'd only had one or two friends growing up—they lived too far out of town for a "casual" visit when he was young and after Tarek…his family had had a hard time letting him out of their sight. Being able to feel their fear meant he understood and tried not to push them.

Phaedra was incredibly different than anyone he'd ever met. She'd lost her mom, just like he'd lost his dad. Also, both he and Phaedra had been attacked by an ex-Inquisitor. They understood each other in a way that no one really had…before. Was she as inexperienced as he was, or would he seem like a clueless boy to her? He didn't know.

"You two okay?" Hera asked as she came over and put a hand on each of their shoulders. They both nodded. "Good." She slid into a seat, and Ezra followed, placing a silver object on the table.

Caleb looked up in surprise. "A lightsaber?"

Ezra nodded. "From the thug that attacked me on the Southside. I was there on the street about ten minutes before he began following me."

"Is…is it a red blade?" Caleb asked, eyes wide. He hadn't seen one since Sabine had fought Tarek. He'd peered out of a crack in the closet door watching them fight, and could still see the bloody glow in his memory. He was a lot older now, but the thought of seeing one again made his hands tighten into fists. Ezra had told him how the red blades were made by bleeding the crystal and turning it to the dark. His jaw tightened as the very thought of it made his heart fall.

"No." Ezra shook his head and Caleb relaxed. "He wasn't a Force sensitive. Just someone who could fight with a blade a bit. Sabine's a lot better trained than this guy, so either he was new or…just disposable."

"Did you kill him or did he get away?" Phae asked, leaning in with wide eyes.

"I was going to let him take a message back to Sekkak, but he pulled a blaster on me when my back was turned." Ezra said with a note of regret. "This is going to be a little tougher than we thought. Bean saw a Force-user with an Inquisitor blade, and I got information from Alexsandr that Sekkak was an Inquisitor apprentice during the war. That's two trained Force-users plus whoever else is trained with a blade. And that's all we know of." He looked grave. "There could be more."

Hera looked worried as well. "I'm not sure we should go in there…"

Ezra nodded slowly, thinking. "Caleb. Describe what you got from the security chief."

"I tried to get him to tell us about them, but it was blank. Like a big block of durasteel. When he repeated he knew nothing, he did it the same way both times, as if…"

"As if it was a suggestion from a mind trick?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't a bad person. I could sense it. I don't think he is working with them, but…they got to him anyway."

"You also said he didn't feel good about you wearing lightsabers." Phaedra looked from Caleb to Ezra. Caleb nodded.

"Makes sense." Ezra said, thoughfully, reaching out to trace the lines of the weapon on the table. "I need to think a bit and consult with the Force. Until we figure this out, no one goes out without me. They know we're here and probably that we're on the other side." Unless Sekkak and his men were complete idiots, Ezra mused. Of course, however, Sekkak had to have some sense to have hidden his activities for so long. "No one goes out without me," he repeated, eyeing both of the kids. They nodded. "Good. I'll be back up later."

He stood up, and after placing a hand reassuringly on Caleb's shoulder, he left the room to go down to the medbay.

"This is a lot bigger than us." Caleb said softly.

"How can you tell?" Hera asked.

He looked at his mom, then Phae. "The Force. It's doing something weird. Flowing differently now. Like wind before a storm." He was reminded of the summer storms of home and the one before that last fight with Tarek on Lothal. Things were building to a crescendo and it made him feel uneasy.

"I think we can trust that Ezra will know what our next steps are. I'm going to make a call to Alexsandr. Cale, can I put you in charge of dinner? We still have leftovers from last night that can be reheated."

"Sure, Mom."

"I'll help." Phaedra offered, smiling at Caleb and anxious to pitch in.

"Thank you, both of you," the Twi'lek nodded, before she headed to the cockpit.

* * *

As Ezra slipped into a light meditation in the medbay, he reached for Sabine in the Force. She was weak and dimmed from the medication dulling her senses, but she was still steady, and that was good. He wrapped her in the Force and made her as comfortable as he could.

When she was resting easily, he allowed himself to float through the warm Force currents. He felt the tide of love that Hera had for Caleb. Zeb's protectiveness over them all was a fierce purple light. Then, Ezra sensed the golden strands of light between Caleb and Phae, and felt the growing connection between the two teens. There was something there that he couldn't yet see, but it was going to be important.

The Force-current changed, pulling him deeper. After so many years of meditation practice, Ezra knew to allow the Force to push and pull him in the endless ebb and flow of light, trusting that it would lead him the right way. For a long time, he felt weightless, and slowly he began to sense an immense field of stars around him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the grasslands of Lothal, under a night sky that seemed to contain every star in the galaxy. He brushed his hand along the tops of the grass, feeling the blades reach up to tickle his palm.

Lothal.

The scent of green growth and rich earth reached him on the summer air. He felt his heart lift a bit as he reveled in the way the Force beat in the earth, grass and rocks around him.

Why had he been brought here? He began to see familiar rock shapes around him and realized that he was near the kyber crystal cave where Caleb had faced his test.

"I don't understand," he whispered, looking up at the many silver stars. He heard a snort and turned around.

A giant silver-grey loth-wolf was standing behind him, face close to Ezra's own. It was the large one, with the mark on its head. It leaned in to sniff him, nosing the side of his head so violently that it almost pushed him over. Then it licked him. "Okay," he laughed, reaching up to run his hand through its coarse fur. Suddenly, Ezra felt his old bond with Kanan flare to life with brilliance, dissipating the constant ache that he'd grown used to over so many years.

"Ezra."

He whirled to find Kanan standing behind him. His master was clothed in robes that were the same silvered color of the wolf's fur.

"Kanan—" Ezra cried as he reached out to embrace his Master.

The Jedi returned the hug with as much enthusiasm. "I've missed you, kid."

"I…it's been…a while," Ezra admitted as he stepped back.

"You've gotten older." Kanan said, a bittersweet smile crossing his features.

"Yeah." It was then that Ezra realized that they were almost the same age now. It struck him hard. "Kanan…can I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Did you always know what to do when you were training me?"

Kanan shook his head, a smile still touching his features. "No…I didn't. I had doubts." At Ezra's wide eyes he went on, "The doubts had nothing to do with you, they were all about me. But Ezra, I loved you just like you love Caleb. I had to hope that what I would do would be right because of that. I know you're worried," he went on, "but you've been a good teacher for Caleb. The best I could have hoped for. I hope you know that."

"I taught him the best I could. The way you would…would've."

"I know." Kanan reached out and put a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "I also know you're worried. I can sense your fear."

"Yeah. There are darksiders…and…I'm…I'm not sure if Caleb's ready…"

Kanan nodded. "I felt the same about you, but you were just fine." He looked out into the darkness a moment, then returned his gaze to Ezra's. "I don't know what the future holds, but I do know this. You have to let Caleb take his first steps on his own. You can't protect him forever."

"What's happening?" Ezra startled as the scene around them changed and they were in a Jedi Temple dojo. "Where is this?" Ezra asked, looking around the bright room. Lightsabers lined the walls and there were mats at his feet. He could sense that many Padawans had practiced here. Their echoes were still vibrating in the Force.

Kanan looked around him with surprise and recognition in his eyes. "Oh." He smiled wistfully. "This is where I learned the same lesson you have before you. You can't protect him forever, Ezra. You have to let go."

"But…but I've got to keep him safe." Ezra said, coming back over to Kanan. "He's…" He stopped abruptly as if afraid to go on.

Kanan waited patiently, then gently urged Ezra on. "He's what?"

"He's…" There was a long pause. "He's all…all we have left of you." Ezra said suddenly, the words bursting out of him like a held breath. They left him feeling trembly and tired.

Kanan smiled ruefully and looked down. "I see. So, you protect him because you feel like you couldn't protect me from my fate. Do you plan to keep him safe his whole life?"

"Yes…I mean no…I…" Ezra didn't know what to say as he met Kanan's blue-green eyes.

"You think you're holding on out of love, but it's fear, Ezra."

"No." Ezra dropped his eyes, realizing it was a lie.

Kanan approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder again. "It's fear, Ezra. Call it what it is."

Ezra struggled for long moments, then looked up with tears in his eyes. "Okay. I admit it. I **am** afraid. I don't want to lose him, and I…I don't want to fail you."

Kanan smiled. "You haven't ever failed me. Not once. But Ezra, you have to let him make his own mistakes. All you can do is what you've done: train him the best that you can. It'll be enough, Ezra. It was with you, and it will be the same with him."

"Do you know that for sure?" Ezra asked.

"Nothing's for sure, but in every future I can see, this is the path you must take."

Ezra bowed his head for a moment, then nodded. "I'll do the best I can."

Kanan nodded. "I know you will." The temple began to melt around them and things slowly grew dark. When Ezra realized what was happening, he raised his gaze and frantically searched out the features of Kanan's face, lined in starlight once more. "Trust in the Force, Ezra. It has brought you this far. When things are the darkest, do not despair. Look for the light."

Gradually, Kanan faded into the void and Ezra was alone again. Their bond was dark once more, but he felt a calmness he'd not had when he sat for meditation. Opening his eyes, he saw he was back in the medbay.

He unfolded himself and stood beside Sabine's bed, stretching his muscles that were cramped from being so still for so long.

It was then he noticed that Hera was sitting beside Sabine's bed.

"Hi," she said softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I…uh…yeah." He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his perception to the real world again. Sabine was sleeping deeply and he reached down to take her hand. He could feel her pulse steady and strong.

"Hera? How…how do you feel about Caleb on the mission with us tomorrow night? I wasn't too sure at first, but I think…maybe…it's time." He glanced up at her to see her reaction.

She nodded slowly but her lekku were stiff with worry. "I don't like it, but I suppose I wouldn't like it no matter what age he was." She smiled ruefully. "Just think about all the things you were doing at his age."

He made a face and chuckled softly. "Let's NOT think of some of those things."

They laughed a moment, then Hera grew solemn again. "Ezra, I trust you, if that's what you're wondering. You've trained him as well as Kanan trained you. He's becoming everything he's supposed to be and…if he didn't fight against injustice, no matter where he found it, he wouldn't be my son."

Ezra nodded slowly. "I think the Force is pushing us in that direction too. Um…meditating a while ago…I saw…"

She raised an eyebrow. "You **did** see him…" Suddenly, her eyes shone with emotion.

Ezra nodded. "How did you know…"

"I could feel him. In the room. I thought it was my imagination. It was just for a moment, then it was gone. Not like it is on Lothal sometimes."

"He's…stronger there, I think." Ezra nodded again.

She nodded. They both remembered what it had been like after Kanan had shown himself on Lothal at the conclusion of the fight with Tarek. Since then, every once in a while, they would sense Kanan's presence. They'd only spoken of it once, while repairing the engines on the _Ghost_. Ezra had admitted feeling his connection to Kanan flare back to life from time to time, especially when he was meditating. Hera had often sensed a gentle touch on her shoulder from time to time.

What she hadn't described to Ezra was the soft scent of the herbal soap Kanan had always used. Each time she had a nightmare about Caleb and the kidnapping, she would awaken to the scent of Kanan's soap and the feeling of his arms around her. No. That memory was just for her, she thought again as she looked up to find Ezra's hand on her shoulder and an understanding look on his face.

Hera wiped under her eyes with her gloved fingers. "Sorry. What…what did he say?"

"He said that it's time to let Caleb go. To see how he handles himself on his own." Ezra watched her reaction with an raised eyebrow.

Hera nodded, uncertainly. She'd given Kanan the same advice once, when he was training Sabine to fight with the Darksaber. If he was going to have to put everything in practice that Ezra had taught him, then she knew that her son would have to risk danger. "I knew it would come to this one day."

"Don't think this doesn't scare the kriff out of me too," Ezra added.

"I might be letting him go try this on his own, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be right there to jump on anyone coming after him," she said.

Ezra nodded. "I know. If things look like more than we can handle, we can always abort the mission and I'll hold them off while you and Zeb get the kids out."

Hera nodded slowly. "I called Alexsandr earlier. He's sending a few agents. They should be here in about 23 hours."

"I'm glad you didn't turn them down," Ezra murmured thoughtfully.

"The kids have gotten dinner ready. Let's go eat, then we can bring something down for Sabine. Her vitals are still stable." Hera said, reaching out and feeling Sabine's forehead. "She's not spiking a fever, which is a good sign."

Ezra nodded, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. "Back soon, Sabinika," he whispered.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone! Don't forget to leave a comment!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please don't be too mad at me. I decided to make a decision that might be a gamble. Let's hope it pays off.

10.

They had finished eating dinner and making plans for the next day. It was decided that everyone but Sabine would go to the auction. Zeb would wait outside, while Hera, Ezra, Caleb and Phae went inside to buy the saber back. If there was no trouble, they would simply return to the _Ghost_ and wait for Alexsandr's people before mounting an attack. If there was trouble, then Hera, Zeb and Caleb would be there to assist.

They were cleaning up the dishes when Caleb turned around to see Sabine standing in the doorway. "Bean!" He ran over to put an arm around her, worried that she might fall.

"'M fine." She muttered as he eased her over to the bench and into the seat.

"Sabine…we told you to stay put," Ezra said as he came over. Phae took a few steps toward the table, but then remained in the galley area, watching with big eyes. Hera came up beside her and put a guiding hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," she whispered to the startled girl. "Come on." They came over slowly.

Zeb was chiding her when they approached. "—listen, kit. You were supposed to rest."

It was obvious Sabine was under the influence of the pain medicine because her voice was slurred. "Guess it's just all that Mandalorian grit I have."

"Let's put you and the grit to bed." Ezra said, shaking his head at her as he hauled her up to her feet once again and let her lean on him. He guided her to their room.

When they reached their quarters, Zeb keyed the door. Ezra settled Sabine on the bed. "Hungry?"

She shook her head. "Maybe later, but I'd kill for some water."

"I'll get it." Caleb said, moving past everyone to the galley. When he brought it back, Sabine drank greedily.

"Careful." Ezra said, holding out a hand for the cup so that she didn't drop it. She let him take it and laid back on the pillow.

"I'll be good to go for the morning," she said, glancing first to Ezra, then the rest of the Spectres and Phaedra, peering into the room.

"No. You're not going on this one, Sabine." He reached down to smooth back strands of her hair in a tender gesture.

She glanced up at him, surprised. "I can't just stay here…"

"You're staying back at the _Ghost_ , with Chop. If we need a pick-up, you'll come for us." Ezra said.

She sat up in alarm. "Ezra, there was one of Sekkak's redblades there. There's another person who is supposed to show up at the auction tomorrow night."

"And we'll deal with it," Ezra nodded. "But what you need to do now is rest, okay?"

She settled back down to the pillows, pouting a little. "I don't have to like it."

"You're right." Ezra replied. "You don't, but you do have to rest. I'll be back in in a little bit."

When he was sure she was going to rest, he ushered the rest of them out.

* * *

There were a lot of people at the auction. It was decided that Ezra and Phaedra would sit away from Hera and Caleb. They were connected over a private comm network by earpieces and so could coordinate actions. Zeb was also on the same network outside, watching the street traffic.

There were various beings from all classes and species at the auction. Ezra and Phaedra sat on the right side; the girl was covered by the hood of the jacket she wore, just in case the person selling the lightsaber was actually Estin Devian and she would be recognized. She was nervous and shifted continually in her seat until Ezra reached out and put a hand on her forearm. "Emotion, yet peace, Phae." He murmured to her, using the Force to help her calm her nerves.

She looked up, into his calm, bi-colored gaze. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll try."

"A calm mind is the ultimate weapon." He murmured, glancing around the room again. A young man with a worried Force signature came up the center aisle and sat in a front row seat. He sensed Phae stiffen when she saw him. "Our target?" He breathed.

"Yeah." Phae said, pulling her face back into her hood. "I'm pretty sure that's him. I recognize his blaster."

Ezra nodded. He sat back, crossing his arms on his chest and extending his ankles out in front of him, his posture showing that he was fully at ease—just as any bored customer might do. He stayed that way even when he sensed another Force user enter the building.

"Caleb keep your shields strong. I sense a presence."

"Me too." Caleb replied.

Ezra kept a steadying hand on Phae's forearm. "The one in the blue cloak." He nodded toward the man, flanked by two bodyguards, who took a seat in the front row.

Phae's face hardened but she was able to resist the impulse to jump to her feet. More people filtered in, and eventually the auction began.

They auctioned off all kinds of things. Pairs of blasters, armor, droid parts, crates of rations, and rebuilt ship parts were just a few of the things. Toward the end of the auction, the auctioneer came forth with Phae's mother's lightsaber.

"Now this, gentle beings is a truly unique item. It is a pre-rebellion lightsaber. An unusual weapon, to be sure. Built by a Jedi, this yellow blade is not often seen in weapons of this period." The auctioneer held up the hilt and ignited the blade. There were gasps all around the room. "A true thing of beauty. The bidding begins at 1,000 credits."

And the bidding began. A Rodian made the first bid. Other bids came in, but as the saber price climbed, they dropped off.

"Okay. Our last bid by the gentleman in the front is 10,000 credits. Do we have another bid? Going…going…"

"10,100." Ezra raised a hand.

The auctioneer looked surprised. "We have 10,100. Do I hear 10,200?"

"11,000 creds." The voice said in the front.

"12,000 credits." Ezra gestured.

The man in the front row turned around and glared openly at Ezra. He narrowed his eyes, and Ezra felt a mental push against his shields. Suddenly the man grinned as he turned back.

"I think we've been made." Ezra said softly to Phaedra.

"Kriff."

"12,000 once…twice…sold to the gentleman on my left."

The crowd applauded politely. The Force user arose with his bodyguards and walked down the aisle, making eye contact with Ezra. "Win some, lose some." Ezra offered, getting a good look at the dark-haired man with light blue eyes the color of ice. He said nothing, but continued to eye Ezra and Phaedra until they passed.

"They'll be coming out." Ezra said over the comm. "Three guys, Zeb."

After a second, Zeb replied that he had visual contact. Ezra stood up, and Phae followed him as they made their way to a cashier window.

Ezra presented his identification to the woman at the window.

"I will need you to enter your banking information." The woman, an older Theelin with feathers woven into her pink hair, gestured to a terminal beside her. Ezra entered the appropriate series of numbers, then waited while the transaction was processed. Phaedra looked on in horror.

"You…you can't."

"Why not?" Ezra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's…It's a lot of money!"

"Money is unimportant." Ezra said, taking the receipt. "Thank you."

"Take your receipt to the back of the auction house and they will give you your item. Thank you for letting us serve you."

"It's 12,000 creds!" Phaedra said.

"Yeah, it is." Ezra laughed gently and put a hand on her shoulder. He glanced around the room and saw Hera and Caleb making their way over.

"We have to go to the back to pick up the saber," Ezra said, leading the way. When he reached the back, he dealt with the guard and auction official while Phae, still stunned, glanced up at Hera.

"He's crazy. He just paid 12,000 creds for my…my…saber."

"He's a Jedi." Hera replied, as if that phrase explained everything.

Ezra turned with the saber in hand. "Here. This is yours."

Phaedra held it tightly in her hand, cradling it against her chest. "Thank you," she said, tears in her eyes. Ezra wrapped an arm around one shoulder and Caleb came to wrap an arm around her other one.

"It's nothing. Caleb will work off the money anyway. How long do you think it will take to work off 12,000 creds?" Ezra jibed.

"Oh, I'd say that is at LEAST doing the dishes and scrubbing the _Ghost_ for life." Hera teased, seeing Phaedra's eyes grow large.

"We're just kidding," Ezra said with a smile that quickly grew serious. "Now, though, we have more important problems. Getting back to the _Ghost_." He tapped his comm. "Zeb?"

"They're out front." Zeb said. "Just waiting."

Ezra raised an eyebrow, unsure what to do. Surely, they hadn't had time to call in reinforcements, had they? He struggled between splitting off Hera and Phaedra and sending them back to the Ghost out the back or confronting the problem head on. He closed his eyes, searching the Force to know what to do.

"Wait…they got a message on their comm and they're leaving."

Zeb's voice continued. "Yeah they're going back toward the Southside. I'll be waiting by the entrance."

Ezra sighed, relieved. Maybe the showdown wouldn't take place tonight and Alexsandr's men would have time to show up.

The Jedi closed his eyes for a moment, and Phaedra saw that Caleb gave him a surprised look. When he opened his royal blue eyes, he fixed them on his Padawan first.

"Caleb." He put a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "I want you in the front with Hera. Focus your senses on what's around you, just in case this is some kind of elaborate set up." He moved to Hera, a hand on each of her shoulders. "I need you by his side if we are attacked." She nodded in reply. "And Phaedra…you are in the middle." He put a hand on her shoulder. Strangely she felt lightened by his touch. It was a tingly feeling that went from the top of her head to her toes, taking away all her fear and worries.

When Ezra turned to lead them outside, Caleb whispered in her ear. "It's a battle meditation. Did you feel braver after he touched you?"

She nodded.

"It's to make us work better as a team." Caleb said as they moved outside. The both of them watched as Ezra laid a hand on Zeb's shoulder as well.

"It's amazing," she said, feeling the sensation of light and right flow through her heart. It was a lot like meditating with Ezra the first time she'd seen and known the Force.

"Okay. Let's go." Ezra said. Caleb and Hera set off, with Phaedra, Zeb and Ezra following. They made their way to the end of the street, and turned to head back toward the spaceport. The streets were lit dimly and the shadows seemed to crawl after them in the darkness. Three streets over, near a darkened warehouse, Caleb felt the first stirrings of unease. He reached for his bond with Ezra and could tell that his master felt the same sensation.

It was then that a red blasterbolt streaked by, grazing Zeb's shoulder. The Lasat immediately fired back with his bo-rifle.

Caleb drew both sabers and began deflecting the hail of blaster-fire flashing about them. Hera fired from over his shoulder, yanking Phae back toward her. Briefly Hera thought to call Sabine in the _Ghost_ , but she realized that Sabine would be able to do little in the narrow streets where they were.

The blaster fire began to slow, and there were the distinctive snap-hiss of three lightsaber blades, lighting up the darkness as the figures approached out of the warehouse. The saber blades were all red.

"The yellow blade belongs to me." The tallest of the group, a man unfamiliar to Caleb, stepped forward. Hera took a shot, which the tall man deflected with a lazy gesture of his sword. Caleb kept the reflected bolt from hitting Hera.

"Sekkak."

"You will turn over that blade and leave the planet. Unless you wish to join us?" The former Inquisitor apprentice grinned.

"If you are darksider enough to wield that red blade, then you already know my answer." Ezra said, lifting his green blade to a horizontal ready position over his head.

"Very well. Perhaps I can convince your whelp over there to join me once I take your head."

"Kriff off!" There was a blast of Force energy as Caleb pushed the darksider back two feet.

"Caleb." Ezra held out a hand toward him, never taking eyes off of Sekkak. "You must keep your center. He is all talk." He lowered his head and kept his eyes on the ex-inquisitor apprentice.

There was a grin as the darksider began to advance with the blade-wielder to his right. "Tal—take the boy; he's about your speed."

Tal was a bit older than Caleb, with a long line leading down his cheek and onto his neck. The skin around the area was twisted and shiny with scar tissue, and it caused the corner of his mouth to turn down. Caleb could feel that he was a true Force user, and not just some thug with a lightsaber. The dark side twisted and coiled around him like a snake.

His opening move was to hold the saber over his head and bring it down with a twisting motion as he locked with both of Caleb's blades. If not for his recognition of the attack from his training, Caleb most certainly would have been disarmed. The best his opponent could do, though, was to was make a quick twist of his wrist and cause a burn along Caleb's left arm, from the wrist to the elbow.

He hissed in pain, but threw a wave of Force energy at his opponent that pushed him almost back to the warehouse. Behind him he could sense his mother had placed her back against his and was firing at other opponents behind them.

"Caleb?" A high fearful cry from Phae. There was the snap-hiss of her lightsaber. She held it in front of her like he'd shown her, like a youngling, Caleb saw. Her eyes were fierce as she dropped into the same position he'd taught her only days before. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He could feel reassurance along the battle bond he shared with Ezra, and he readied his sabers for defense. He needed to observe his opponent before he decided how best to attack. Using the Force, he pushed back the pain in his arm and stood ready as the redblade advanced once more.

Ezra made several forceful slashes at Sekkak while pushing the other Force-user (the one from the auction), back fifteen feet into the warehouse. Zeb began taking shots at two others with blasters who were coming up from the warehouse on the opposite side.

"You will die like all the other Jedi. Screaming." Sekkak spat as he advanced again.

"I have felled redblades before, and they were the ones who screamed. You will be no different." They began to trade blows, Ezra keeping to the basics of form three, while Sekkak tried a mixture of Juyo and other forms.

Parry, parry, riposte. Caleb was keeping it simple and holding his own against the badly trained redblade. Either the man had not been a redblade very long or he was having trouble focusing. Cale had hit his opponent in the shoulder with one of his blue blades, and now the redblade, Tal, was off-balance. Perhaps he was not used to fighting someone with dual blades. Caleb readied himself as Tal approached with a growl.

"If you continue, I will be forced to kill you." Caleb said.

"It's you who will die, boy!" Tal growled, and lifted his sword, gathering power.

 _Trust. Let go_ , the Force seemed to be saying. Caleb closed his eyes and let go of winning, of protecting his family, of keeping the Force-user at bay and gave himself over completely to the light. And when he opened his eyes, he saw that he had planted one of his swords into the darksider's chest. The other sword was blocking the downward swing, enough so that instead of splitting his shoulder from his body, the sword only cut into his shoulder a small amount before the darksider was falling to his knees. Then the red blade bounced away harmlessly as its wielder fell backwards into the street.

Caleb glanced over to where Ezra and Zeb were fighting the two darksiders who were left. Hera and Phae were facing off against an assailant who was behind some crates in the opposite warehouse. Phae was moving the golden saber in a simple arc, and she deflected a shot. Caleb realized that she had tapped into the Force in a very primal sort of way. It was elementary, yet powerful at the same time, moving her hands to the right places.

_Stay with them._

Caleb glanced back at Ezra; even though he'd heard his master's voice, Ezra hadn't had time to make eye contact. He was battling the strongest of the darksiders, their blades were flashing like a star, moving so quickly it was hard to see where the red blade began and the green one ended. Zeb was keeping his single darksider opponent at bay with blasts from his bo-rifle.

He turned back and moved out front to begin deflecting the shots of the man in front of them. With a scream, one of their opponents went down.

The Force pulled him to turn back toward Ezra and Hera; however, it was a moment too late. He'd been scanning the warehouse in front of him for other opponents, but the danger was coming from behind them. Turning, he saw and felt his mom's sudden pain. She dropped to her knees, and then curled in on herself.

"No!" Caleb shook his head, and suddenly saw the shooter in an upper window of the warehouse behind them. The man had a blaster rifle and had targeted first Hera, now Caleb. He sent the bolt sizzling back towards the shooter and hit the target.

Caleb and Phae reached Hera almost at the same time. Caleb kept one saber out, but hung the other one from his belt and went down on his knees beside his mom.

"Mama…" He said, choking on the word as he tried to turn her over.

She looked up at him, then at Phae who was kneeling beside her as well. "Go." She hissed in a whisper. "Get out of here."

"No, Mom! Not without you!" Caleb felt himself unraveling as he glanced over her wounds, remembering everything he'd been taught about first aid by Ezra, Sabine and his mom. The blast had caught her in the abdomen, and it was bad. He felt tears gather in his eyes at the amount of damage as he finally turned her over.

* * *

Ezra knew the moment Hera was hit. He felt the blast in his stomach and actually looked down to see if he was injured, but then he realized Hera had gone down. Knowing she was hurt made staying focused on his own fight a struggle.

At this point, Ezra and Sekkak were both tiring. Zeb had gotten close enough to take out his darksider's knee. He'd knocked the Force-user's saber away and now they were grappling hand to hand.

Ezra parried Sekkak's next attack and struck home on the riposte, his sword biting into his opponent's side. A wave of fear hit him through his bond with Caleb and his lesser bonds with Phaedra and Hera. It was bad. He could feel panic and terror from Caleb; for a minute it threatened to drown him, but he fought his way above it and narrowed his focus. Sekkak was staggering back.

Ezra didn't know much of Juyo, but he used what Kanan had taught him. A rapid Juyo attack took the injured crime boss by surprise and before the man could recover, Ezra had stuck him between two ribs. The smell of burned flesh hit his nostrils and made him want to retch. Retreating for a moment, he waited to see what Sekkak would do. The darksider staggered back, a snarl of anger on his features as he gathered himself for a Force-assisted leap.

Ezra gathered as much Force energy as he could and used it to catch the injured crime boss in midair, then slam him into the wall of the warehouse. Something crunched and Sekkak slumped to the ground, his blade falling from his hand. Ezra called it from the ground where it had fallen and tucked it into his belt. It was then he noticed Zeb was standing, gasping for breath, having defeated his own opponent. "Zeb, can you cover him?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah. This one's done for." Zeb pointed his rifle at Sekkak as he limped over.

Ezra turned and made for Hera, Caleb and Phaedra. His padawan had pulled Hera behind some nearby shipping crates, and he and Phaedra were kneeling, doing something to try and help while they still were taking fire from one of the upper windows. The shooter targeted Ezra but with one flick of the Jedi's wrist, he sent the bolt back. A scream signified that he hit his intended mark.

When he got there, he saw how bad it really was. Caleb had his hands over the wound, trying to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. There was too much blood pooling underneath Hera. If they had a medic right here, with a medcenter…it would almost certainly be too late. He heard sirens of the local law enforcement in some distant part of his consciousness, but he was completely focused on her. She was a pale green, and her lips were tinged with her magenta-colored blood.

"Hera," he took her hand.

Her green eyes found his. "Get the kids…out…of—" she said.

"It's okay. We're out of danger." Ezra felt the weakening of Hera's usually strong Force signature.

"Ezra…We need to get her to a med center," Caleb began, his anguished face searching Ezra's bi-colored gaze.

"No, Caleb." Ezra shook his head, his eyes holding Hera's.

Hera understood, Ezra could see it on her features as she nodded. She turned her head to Caleb, all of her focus centered on her son. "Caleb," she whispered. "Listen to…me…"

His eyes were latched on to her. "Mama. N-no. You're gonna be okay."

"Caleb, it's okay." Her blood-spattered hand reached for his. "I'm okay with it. I…just…want you to know how much I love you. How proud I…have always been..."

Tears were flowing freely down Caleb's face as his heart broke inside. This couldn't be happening. His mother, Hera Syndulla, the hero of the Rebellion, shot down by some thug's blaster in an alley. It wasn't right. He buried his face in her shoulder. "No, Mama. I'm not losing you. Don't leave me."

She brought a hand up to place it on his brown hair. The older he got, the more he looked so much like Kanan. Suddenly she remembered Kanan's words to her, the last time they'd seen each other in that place between worlds. "Kanan said…he'd be there." She shifted her eyes to Ezra. "So, I'm not afraid. Watch over him Ezra…Watch…out for Caleb."

"I will," he promised, tears streaking his own face. "I will, Hera."

Caleb had raised his head as she mentioned his father. "No, Mom…"

"Caleb, I love you…" As her eyes closed, Caleb screamed out his grief.

* * *

It was bright. Hera was looking into the face of the sun and it dazzled her eyes. When they became adjusted, she saw that Kanan was above her, between her and the dazzle of light.

"Easy there." He said in that deep voice that seemed to resonate with her soul. "I've got you."

Hera sat up as he helped her, and she realized that she was in the Ghost's cockpit. They must have been floating near a sun, and the brilliance had streamed through into the cockpit, lighting it with a beautiful yellow-white glow. For a minute, she wondered if it was another dream. Kanan looked like he'd looked when they were young. His hair was short and there was an easy smile on his face.

"Oh…" She reached out to touch him. "This is a dream. Or is this real?" Was she dead? That was it. This wasn't a dream. It was just like he'd promised. He'd waited for her.

"It's real." He captured her hand gently in his own and kissed its fingertips. "But you shouldn't be here, Hera."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not meant to be here yet." Kanan looked confused, a crease forming on his forehead. Hera realized that Caleb had the same look when he was confused.

"Kanan? How..."

The scene shifted and they were under a night sky on Lothal. There was a ring of Loth-wolves around them; the creatures' golden eyes were glowing brightly like coins in sunlight. "We have to wait and see." Kanan said, still holding her hand, but sitting on the grassy ground in a meditation position.

"Wait for what?"

"For the young one to find her way," Kanan said as he closed his eyes. The wolves followed suit, bowing their heads as if concentrating. Hera could feel the whole landscape vibrate with power.

* * *

Phaedra looked down at her mother's lightsaber in her hand and dropped it. It was the cause of all this trouble. If not for her stupid insistence on regaining the weapon, they would all be okay! But instead, Hera was dying. She pressed a hand against her mouth to stop the sob building up. She couldn't face losing someone like this. Not again.

Caleb had his hands on his mother's stomach, pressing down with his jacket folded under his hands, trying to stanch the flow of blood. "No, Mama. No…" He cried over and over, his hands trembling as he tried to hold back the inevitable.

Ezra took Caleb's hands in his own. "Stop. She's gone, Cale."

Caleb looked up at him, stunned. "No…Ezra. We can't give up! She wouldn't!" He snatched his hands away from Ezra's and continued to give first aid, but the Jedi stepped around Hera's body and pulled him up into his arms. Caleb fought him for a moment until he gave in to the dark water of his emotions and sagged against Ezra, sobbing.

"Her Force signature, Caleb. It's gone. She's gone." Ezra said, his arms around the boy. "I'm so sorry." He kissed the top of Caleb's head as he clutched the teen close.

Phaedra's heart ached as she reached out for Hera's hand—the Twi'lek's fingers were still warm and it made Phae begin to cry. She bowed her head, but movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to look up.

There was a man beside Hera that looked somewhat familiar to Phae, but she couldn't place him. He took Hera's other hand but never removed his eyes from Phaedra. She saw that his brown hair was short and spiky. There was the shadow of an old wound around his eyes, but it had faded for the most part-long since healed, whatever it had been. "Use the Force, Phaedra Alata," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"She is not yet lost, but you must find your own way." His blue-green eyes were fixed on Hera as he spoke.

She turned to Ezra and Caleb, but neither one had noticed the man, and when she looked back, he was gone.

"Kriff." Phaedra squeezed her eyes shut and tried to connect with the Force. Nothing happened. Trying to focus, she gritted her teeth and reached for the Force again. It flared to brilliance around her this time, but immediately died away.

"I can't," she whispered. "I don't know what to do." She looked up and saw that Zeb had joined Ezra and Caleb. He had wrapped his arms around the two and held them tightly.

"Please…please…" She wasn't sure if she was praying to the Force, the specter of the man who had appeared or her mother. "Let me help her. Please." She closed her eyes and reached for the Force.

And it flooded her with light—light brighter than a star.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it...sorry for the cliffhanger but this is as far as I have written. Thank you for reading and let me know what you thought! I love to hear from you guys!


	11. Chapter 11

11.

Kanan sat motionless on the plain for a long time, his face composed and peaceful as Hera stole expectant looks at him. Then, after a time, the wind on the plain changed around them. The great wolves that had been sitting impassively now lifted their heads and sniffed the cooler air. When she turned back, Kanan had opened his eyes, but they weren't their normal blue green-they were like a star field-points of light glimmering within their black depths. "Kanan?" she asked, fearfully. His gaze was other-worldly.

He didn't reply, and she didn't let go of his hand. As her heart thudded in her chest, she reminded herself that Kanan was still Kanan, down to the scar on his palm from the early days-when he'd cut his hand on one of the Ghost's manifolds-she could feel the thick ridged scar with her thumb. He was still himself, but so different…more fully a creature of this new world.

He startled her by speaking. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel it?" Hera asked, still holding onto his hand. Wherever they really were, this was not exactly Lothal and she was too afraid to let his hand go. "What do you mean?"

"You're being called back." He murmured. When he blinked, his eyes were again their normal blue green. He stood and pulled her to her feet, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hera, I don't want to lose you again, but I think you have to decide to go back. For them."

She turned her mind toward her loved ones. Caleb and Ezra, Sabine and Zeb. Did they need her? The past with them felt unreal and far-away when compared with this vivid reality of Kanan's. The grass waving around them, the wind blowing gently against her lekku, the smell of the earth…it was all incredibly peaceful and beautiful. "I…I love them. I do, but…I've missed you so much." She looked up at him uncertainly.

Kanan immediately drew her close in an embrace. "I know. I missed you too, Hera." She felt his kiss brush the top of her head. "But our time is not yet. If you die…there are risks. Caleb could fall."

"What do you mean?"

"Fall to the dark side, Hera. Lose himself in anger." The scene shifted around them and they were in front of her home on Lothal, facing a darkened plain. It was late afternoon and one of the frequent summer storms was brewing up above them. Thunder rumbled while Hera heard something over her shoulder.

It was Ezra and Caleb. Caleb had just come out, slamming the door behind him and Ezra followed. She watched as the Jedi grabbed her son's arm, his voice stern.

"Caleb. You're going to have to deal with this anger…You can't keep running." There was a pause in which Hera heard him lower his voice and saw him look at the young man tenderly. "Trust me, I know what you're going through."

Caleb stopped, but his head was down. His shoulders and lekku were stiff with tension and he stayed turned away from Ezra. "I…I can't…I can't let it go into the Force like you want me to." He said through clenched teeth.

"I know. She was like a mother to me too." Ezra said, his voice rough with emotion. "But she would want you to be happy, Caleb."

"She's dead. The Force let her die." Caleb whispered brokenly, his lekku drooping. "Why? Why did it let her die?"

"You can't think about it like that-"

"But that's how it is!" Caleb whipped around toward Ezra and the Jedi flew back three feet, slamming into the porch post. It wasn't enough to hurt Ezra, but they were both clearly shaken.

Caleb looked horrified. "I'm sorry. I didn't…"

Ezra stepped forward only one step, not wanting to crowd Caleb again. "It's okay. You have to push the dark side away. Let me help you, Cale."

Hera's heart was breaking as she watched her son turn away, wiping the tears off of his face, only to be replaced by more. When he let out a sob, Ezra came forward, this time wrapping the young man in a hug.

She looked up at Kanan's face. "Does this mean he will let Ezra help him?"

Kanan's eyes were far away. "I'm not sure. He will blame himself for not saving you. The dark side's grip on him starts from this point on." His gaze began to darken again as he searched the future with the Force. "He blames the light side of the Force; he lets his anger take control and then all I see is darkness. An anger and all-encompassing darkness, but the source is unclear…it could be from within or without."

"We can't let that happen." Hera said, her gaze searching the deepening gloom for both of her kids. Gradually, Ezra and Caleb faded from view. She could look up and see Kanan, but other than that it was impossible now to tell where they were. "I can go back?"

"You can." Kanan nodded as things grew dark around them.

"I'm scared; if I leave, I might not see you again."

"I will always be here, Hera. Watching over you." As she looked up into his eyes this time, she saw that his face was like before; his eyes were an ocean color and a gentle expression sat upon his features. "I love you and I will always be here."

She felt a tug on her being; it was as if someone had a string around everything inside of her and was pulling her back, away from Kanan. "I love you too," she replied, clinging tightly to him and burying her face against his chest. She could smell the scent of the soap he had always used, and something about that made her want to cry. Whatever new abilities…whatever Kanan had _become_ in the Force, he was still the other part of her heart and she missed him.

He cradled her in his arms as light began to grow about them. At first it was soft and warm, then it grew to a bright yellow-white until it dazzled her eyes. The last she felt of him was a kiss he placed on the top of her head. Then she was pulled away into the light.

* * *

Ezra was the first to sense the shift. In his grief, he hadn't noticed at first, but now, it was impossible to ignore. All of the Force energy was being drawn toward one area. The only thing he'd ever felt like this was when he'd come up against Vader with Kanan at Malachor. There was nothing about the dark side here, however. Only light. Brilliant light being funneled towards Hera.

 _Look for the Light,_ Kanan had said.

He turned toward Phaedra and inhaled sharply when he saw her shining with the Force. He broke from Caleb and Zeb's grasp and went to her.

The girl's eyes were closed, her hands lying lightly over Hera's wounds. Ezra knelt beside her, looking on in amazement. As far as he knew, no one who had died could be revived with the Force. Kanan had said there were Force healers during the height of the Jedi Order, but Ezra had figured that the knowledge had been lost with the Jedi who had died. However, he looked at Hera with the Force and sensed the barest wisp of an ethereal connection to their plane of existence. He'd missed it the first time he'd looked … perhaps his battle meditation had allowed her to cling to life or perhaps it was some mystery of the Force. Whatever it was, he could sense Phae struggling to grasp at it. He put a hand on her shoulder, bowed his head and closed his eyes, lending his own Force energy to her to save Hera.

 _Do what you can_ , he thought. _I've got you._

Caleb and Zeb looked on in stunned silence as Hera's chest began to rise and fall again. Caleb fell to his knees and reached down for his mother's hand.

"She's…she's alive." Zeb said, stunned and afraid to hope.

Whatever was happening seemed to be at an end. Ezra's hand dropped from Phaedra's shoulder and with effort, he opened his eyes.

"Is…did it work?" Ezra breathed, looking at Hera's face.

"Yeah." Zeb said. "Whatever you did…she's alive."

Sirens were heard in the background and they realized that city security was on its way. Phaedra opened her eyes, smiled when she saw all of them, and abruptly passed out. Ezra caught her in his arms.

* * *

Caleb stared into the bacta tank where his mother was floating in the transparent fluid; she had a breathing mask on and monitors attached to her chest. The medics said it was necessary that she spend several days in the tank. It was the first time he'd been in a medcenter since Ezra's injuries from his fight with Tarek. With a worried heart, he watched his mom's lekku sway gently in the healing liquid.

He placed his unbandaged hand against the plastisteel and bowed his head, trying to use the Force to figure out if she was feeling okay, if she knew where she was, and if she was frightened. He sensed her dreamless sleep, caused by the drugs the doctors had given her. If she was asleep, she wasn't in pain, so he felt slightly reassured. She'd been so close to death, however, that he couldn't fully relax. He kept seeing her broken body and hearing her last words echo in his thoughts. It made him shudder.

Chopper let out a low moaning noise and grabbed Caleb's bandaged hand gently in his manipulator. The little droid had not left Hera's side since he came to the medcenter with Sabine. He'd even gotten into a nasty fight with a meddroid that had tried to get him to leave. If there was one thing Chopper loved in his convoluted circuit banks, it was Hera.

"Thanks, Chop." Caleb said, moving his hand to rest on the droid's dome affectionately.

Caleb looked up again and noticed Ezra's reflection appear beside him on the plastisteel. Ezra was better; he'd had to be treated for a really painful headache from whatever he and Phae had done with the Force. Phae was still asleep in a hospital bed, but she would be okay, Ezra had assured him. "How's the arm?"

"It's okay." Caleb shrugged. He could still feel the heat from the burns, despite a bacta treatment and some pain medicine. "A wizard scar to start my collection, right?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to see if Ezra remembered the words he'd used when he'd lost the sight in his eye.

His master did. Ezra smiled and hugged Caleb with one arm. "Come on, you've been here all night. You need to get something to eat." He knew that Caleb was exhausted and needed a moment to regroup.

"What if…what if she wakes up and I'm not here?"

"She's going to be in there for at least three days. Zeb will stay."

"I got it, kit." Zeb took a seat near the bacta tank.

"C'mon. We'll be back in an hour." As Caleb and Ezra began to head into the hallway, Alexsandr and Roxi came through the door at the other end.

"We just arrived and were told what happened. How's Hera's condition?" The lines in Alexandr's face had deepened with worry as he placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder.

"She's in serious but stable condition…in a bacta tank right now." Ezra said.

Alexsandr's voice lowered, "Ezra, how did she survive? They told me she…"

Ezra shook his head, glancing pointedly in Caleb's direction; however, the boy was occupied talking with Roxi. "She did, but…Phaedra was able to do something with the Force that I can't fully explain. Hera is alive and healing thanks to that girl."

Caleb turned to Ezra, hearing Phaedra's name. "Maybe I should go to Phae's room; she's gonna wake up before Mom…"

"Sabine's in with Phaedra. You need something to eat," Ezra said, in a firm tone.

Roxi spoke up, "I can go to the cafeteria downstairs and bring food up. Go back and stay with them."

"You don't have to…"

"That's what I'm here for, Ezra. Go rest and be with them. It's the very least I can do." Roxi hugged each one of them quickly and was gone down the hall to the lift.

Ezra nodded, rubbing his head in exhaustion. "Okay, then. Caleb, go ahead and check on Phaedra. We'll get you when she gets back."

Cale walked down to Phaedra's room, while Ezra and Alexsandr entered Hera's room.

Zeb and Alexsandr clapped each other on the back. "Good to see you, brother," Zeb said.

"I'm glad to see you're…mostly unharmed." Alexsandr replied, eyeing Zeb's bandages.

"Aww, it was just a little scratch."

Kallus snorted in reply. When he looked over to Ezra, he saw that the Jedi was staring at Hera. They all could see the obvious blaster wound damage to her abdominal area and her normally vibrant green skin was pale. Kallus slowly approached. "We almost lost her?" he confirmed, his voice low.

"She was so close to death, I thought she was gone." Ezra breathed, trailing his fingers across the thick plastisteel of the tank.

"It was hard on the kid, wasn't it?" Alexsandr said with regret. "They're close, as you would expect, but even more so because of Kanan," he mused.

"Yeah. It would have been hard on all of us." Ezra admitted.

Alexsandr simply nodded, then went on after a time. "I know it doesn't make it any better, but I just wanted to let you know that Sekkak and two other Force user's bodies were found at the scene. Plus a few other lackeys. We figure your battle took out most of the gang's major players. The others scattered."

"Good." Ezra murmured.

"So, um…how…how did the kid do during his first battle?" Alexsandr raised an eyebrow, showing a small moment of levity.

Ezra smiled. "Pretty good. He had a couple of wounds, but he handled them well. He's Kanan's kid, after all."

"And Hera's kid." Alexsandr said thoughtfully, glancing back to the tank. "Let's not forget that."

* * *

Hera slept a long time after she was removed from the bacta tank. It was late evening, four days after the fight at the warehouse and everyone had felt safe enough to back to the ship to change clothes and wash up. Only Ezra had stayed by Hera's bedside.

They brought her something to eat and she'd slowly woken up at the movement and talking in the room. "Mmm. Ezra. What time is it?"

"Eighteen hundred," Ezra replied. "Are you hungry?" He lifted the cover on some of the food. "There's soup and it actually looks pretty good."

She nodded and tried to sit up, wincing at the pain in her stomach. The wound was closing, but it would still be tender and painful for a while.

"Take it easy." Ezra was there, supporting her as he positioned pillows behind her.

"Where is everyone?" She rubbed her eyes.

"Back at the _Ghost_ for a little while. Eating a real meal and changing clothes. We had to pry Caleb away from your bedside." He watched as Hera began to eat, ready to help her if she needed it.

"I'm glad you did," she said. "Promise me you'll go back there too and get some rest. You look exhausted."

Ezra shrugged. "Hera, you sat by me after Tarek…Just figured I'd do the same for you."

She smiled at him, and finished eating while they talked about what Alexsandr was doing to take care of the part of Sekkak's crew that escaped.

When she had finished, Ezra took away the bedside table so that she could lay back again. He returned to his seat beside her as she began to speak. "I've been meaning to mention something to you, but the others were always around. When…when I died," she made a face, still hating saying that, "I saw him."

"Kanan." Ezra guessed.

She nodded. "He told me…I wasn't supposed to be there yet. That I had to come back."

"Phae pulled you the rest of the way," Ezra replied, "with the Force. I've never seen anything like it."

"That girl." Hera smiled, then her eyes drifted. "I had to come back. I can't remember it all, but it was something about Caleb. He needed me…and I had to come back."

"We all need you, Hera." Ezra looked up and Hera reached out to hug him as best as she could from the bed.

"There was something about you. Something I saw…You and Caleb…" She reached up to knead her forehead as if it would bring the memory back. After a minute, she sighed disgustedly. "I'm sorry. It's gone."

"Don't try so hard. It might come back to you," he said.

She sighed with the effort and laid her head back on the pillow.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Ezra said, laying a hand on her shoulder. He could feel Hera's pain increasing, and he reached for the Force to use it to ease her back to sleep.

"Mm…okay," she murmured as her eyes slipped closed.

A nurse appeared a few minutes later. "How's she feeling?" The nurse whispered, checking Hera's IV.

"She's in some pain." Ezra said softly, not breaking his touch on her shoulder.

"We'll get that taken care of," the blond woman replied. She left and came back with a hypospray, pressed it to Hera's arm, and then took her pulse. Afterward, she noted some things on a data pad. "Are you…" She began, then stopped, a blush on her face. "Are you the Jedi they say got rid of Sekkak and his gang?"

Ezra nodded slowly. "I am."

"I just wanted to say thank you. My…my brother was one of the security officers in town. He was killed by one of those thugs." She met his eyes. "I'll never forget how you helped us."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help." Ezra pulled the blanket up a bit more over Hera as she eased down into sleep again.

"We'll take good care of her. I'll make sure of it." The nurse promised.

Ezra nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

The trip home took less time than it took to get there. Hera was walking, although she left all of the flying to Caleb, Ezra and Zeb.

They had just landed. Sabine was helping Hera into the house while Zeb unloaded gear from the ship. There were blasters to be cleaned and food needed to be moved to the conservator into the house. Caleb was going to stay and help, but Zeb waved him off.

"Go show Phaedra around the place." Zeb said. "I've got this."

Caleb and Phaedra disembarked. The day had been sunny, but they had arrived in later afternoon and stormclouds threatened far off in the east. Where they were, however, the sun was still filtering down its golden light. Caleb led her through the grasses toward the house.

"Well, this is Lothal." Caleb said, gesturing around.

Phae smiled, brushing her hand over the tops of the grasses they were walking through. "It's beautiful. Peaceful." The currents of wind played over the grass as far as she could see and it undulated like a beautiful green ocean.

"How…how did your family end up living here?" she asked.

"It's Ezra's home planet…and…it's where my father…died."

"Oh." She nodded slowly. "If you don't want to talk about it…it's okay."

Caleb shook his head, dropping his backpack and lowering his voice. "No, I can talk about it. It happened when Lothal was under a blockade and Imperial control. My Mom was in Imperial custody. Ezra, Sabine and Zeb were pinned down in the Rebel base in the rocks when there was this green flash of light across all of Lothal. It covered the whole planet and deactivated every Imperial weapon. Somehow, my father did that. The Rebels were able to take back the planet. But my father died. I…I don't know a lot more. I'm not sure if it was a redblade that got him, or a blaster, or what. I've asked, but they don't like to talk about what happened very much."

"Wow. I'm sorry." Phae said.

"Oh, it's okay." Caleb nodded, and shouldered his backpack again. "Hey, um…come on inside and I'll show you where to sleep. I usually take the couch when we have visitors so you can stay in my room."

The two made their way inside as Ezra watched from the _Ghost_ 's ramp.

"I think he's ready." Ezra murmured as Zeb came up, carrying a suspensor crate.

"Ready for…?"

"Hearing about Kanan. About what happened the night he died."

Zeb nodded. "You gonna take 'em to the cave?"

"Tomorrow, yeah." Ezra nodded as they closed the ramp and headed toward the house.

"Think she's gonna want to become…like you and Caleb? A Jedi?" Zeb asked.

"I do." Ezra said, thinking of how she'd used the Force to bring Hera back from the knife edge of certain death. It had been an intuitive use of the Force, displaying a unique ability. An ability that Ezra didn't have the least amount of skill with. That bothered him as he tried to see if her path coincided with theirs. "Whatever happens, I think she will be a powerful Force-user with the right training."

* * *

"So, here's my room."

Phaedra entered the room and looked around. It was spare, neat and uncluttered. There was a model of the _Ghost_ hanging suspended from the ceiling. Along the wall was a bed, about the same size as the bunks on the ship. Along the ledge of a window was a collection of interesting rocks, some lined in crystals of various colors. There was a datapad on a desk, along with the grey disk of a holoemitter.

"It's nice," she spoke, looking around. "I always wanted one."

"A geode?" He asked, putting away his backpack.

She was holding a geode with green crystals, but she replaced it on the window sill as she answered: "A room of my own."

Caleb looked over at her with surprise and then sadness. "Oh."

"It's okay." She waved it off. "Mom and I were always travelling, living in hotel rooms. One time we were on the planet Jaenia, and mom rented this nice little apartment. It only had one room, though. We weren't there long, but it was pretty cool." She went to pick up another geode, a blue one. "There was this tooka that we adopted after it started hanging around, but we had to leave him." She put the other geode back.

"Oh. Well, if you like tookas, we have a lot of them on Lothal. They just show up here. Mom blames Ezra for them, but she's just teasing."

"Why blame Ezra?"

"They think it's the Force. He…he has an easy time connecting with animals and they just show up here. You can set your bag down, if you want." Caleb gestured to the chair.

"Oh, okay." She nodded. The emitter caught her eye. "Can I see the holo?"

"Sure." Caleb gestured as she picked up the gray disk. She activated it and inhaled sharply in surprise. Caleb went on, explaining. "It's my dad. Before I was born. My mom said that was what he looked like when she met him."

The image showed a young, clean shaven, brown-haired man with short spiky hair and bluish-green eyes. He couldn't have been older than his twenties, and she recognized him. "Caleb…I-I…" She gestured at the holo of the man as she tried to get out what she wanted to say. "Th-this…"

"What?"

"It's him. I saw…I saw a man when…when I was trying to help your mom. I didn't know what I was trying to do to save her but he seemed to know. He told me to use the Force. He said…he s-said…I had to 'find my way on my own.'"

"My dad. You saw my dad?" Caleb's eyes widened. "You really saw him?"

"Yeah. As clear as you right where you are."

"Kriff." He breathed.

She looked wonderingly at the holo. "He had a scar on his face, right here, but other than that his eyes were the same. His hair was short, just like that."

"Come on." Caleb said, grabbing her hand. "We should tell Ezra."

* * *

After dinner, Ezra, Phaedra and Caleb sat to meditate on the grass outside the front porch. Ezra was going to guide them in a deep meditation that he said was necessary for connecting with the Force in the caves on Lothal. Phaedra's eyes had shone at that, realizing that Ezra was going to keep his promise to take her to the Kyber caves.

Before the meditation, however, Ezra had brought out the three darksider blades he'd acquired. As Caleb and Phaedra watched, Ezra broke down each blade, removing their bleeding crystals. They glowed like coals in Ezra's palm as he held them.

Caleb felt sick as soon as he saw them. The dark side oozed from them, even though Ezra held it at bay. "Will they…be like this forever?" Caleb breathed.

"I'm not sure." Ezra said simply. He turned to Phaedra. "Kyber crystals are attuned to the light side. Darksiders turn the crystal to evil, which causes it to bleed red. Perhaps it will be possible to clean the crystal of the dark energies that were poured into it to subvert its true purpose. ." He laid the stones down in front of him, then continued.

"The Jedi teach that we are luminous beings, made of the Force. What I want you to do is to close your eyes and look inward. Look for the light that makes up your inner self." He waited for them to arrange themselves into meditation stances, before closing his own eyes and continuing. "As you connect with the Force, emotions and thoughts will occur to you. This is normal and even expected. You must acknowledge, then release each emotion…and each thought into the Force. Let each thing go until you are empty of cares, worries, even self. When you are an empty vessel, the Force will be able to fill you, and you will see deeply."

Ezra had spoken softly and gently, guiding each of them into a state of peaceful light meditation. He sensed their thoughts and emotions without judgement, watching with satisfaction as the teens began to release them into the Force. They'd been through so much and needed a moment to clear their thoughts.

Phaedra's cares and worries were light wisps of color and shadow; she was having difficulty releasing the thoughts of her mother. She desperately hoped to speak with her mom, and clinging to that hope was making it impossible to sink deep enough in the Force tide to let herself fully go.

His mind brushed her own. _You cannot cling to the past, Phae. You must find a way to let your grief go_. He told her gently.

He sensed her acknowledgement. She was shaky, moving between the real world and the world of the Force, but he knew she would get better at it.

Caleb was working on his own struggle. Thoughts of his mother's broken body lying on the ground were thrumming in his mind like an instrument out of tune. Ezra sensed him releasing the helpless and angry emotions as quickly as they appeared and reappeared.

They remained this way a long time, Ezra using his connections to the two teens to monitor the mental work of releasing their emotions into the Force. When he sensed that they had reached an appropriate state of mental peace, he began to draw them deeper into the currents of the Force.

Hera and Sabine came out to the front porch. The Twi'lek was slowly walking on her own, but Sabine stayed nearby, just in case.

"I haven't seen that in a while," she said, nodding toward the three Force-users.

There were floating rocks around the three meditating Force-sensitives. Hera could also see that all three were hovering about an inch off the ground. She remembered the first time she'd seen Kanan do something like that. It had been right after they'd taken Ezra on board—before Kanan had accepted the fact that he had to train the young Force sensitive.

Early one morning before the rest of the ship had awoken, she'd come down to the cargo bay. It was springtime and they were parked on one of Lothal's plains, laying low while the heat from their latest heist went down. She realized the cargo bay was open, which meant someone was up. When she reached the bottom of the ladder, she saw Kanan sitting out on the grass in front of the ship.

He was meditating. She hadn't seen him do this but once or twice, usually when it was quiet around the ship. This time…this time was different, however.

The first thing she'd noticed was that tiny rocks and pebbles were hovering in the air around Kanan in about a two-foot radius. And it was then that she noticed that Kanan himself was hovering a few inches off of the ground.

She'd been so stunned, she'd had to sit down on a supply crate.

Now, however, such things happened with regularity. She didn't take it for granted, but it wasn't as startling. Everytime, however, she thought about Kanan and how much she missed him.

"Kanan would be so proud of Ezra." Hera whispered.

"He definitely would." Sabine added. She suddenly stood up on her toes and looked out across the darkening plain. "I see a Loth-wolf."

They both watched as the creature approached. This one was a brilliant white, almost glowing under the moonlight.

Ezra was obviously aware of it. As it padded to him, the Jedi opened his eyes and smiled. It bumped him with its nose, then licked him. Sabine brought her clasped hands to rest over her heart. The Force was deeply connected to the Loth-wolves and any visit from them was like a blessing from the Force itself.

"Hi." Ezra said, a laugh in his voice as the wolf nuzzled him.

Caleb and Phae emerged from their trance, and the levitating pebbles fell back to the ground.

"Kriff…" the girl breathed.

The wolf sniffed Caleb and licked him as well. Then it swung its great head to Phaedra, blinking its glowing, golden eyes at her.

"Is…it…going to hurt me?" She asked, afraid.

The Loth-wolf walked around behind Caleb and stuck its snout into her hair, mussing the curls. Then it sniffed her and licked the back of her head head, hair and all.

"I think you can consider that a no." Caleb said.

When the wolf completed its circle around them, Caleb was able to see the scars in its fur…this was the same wolf that had attacked Tarek so long ago.

As the animal came around, it noticed the red glow of the bleeding kyber crystals in the grass. It sniffed and snuffled around, then breathed out onto the crystals.

Caleb, Phae and Ezra saw the red light die. The crystals now glowed a soft, colorless white.

"It…did you see?" Caleb pointed.

Ezra nodded. The animal sat and then laid its head in Ezra's lap. He petted its scarred nose gently. "It's a good sign."

"Can I…" Phae asked, leaning in. "Can I pet him?"

Ezra nodded and watched as the girl gently wound her fingers through the beast's fur. "He's so soft," Phaedra murmured. Seeing one of the scars that wound across the animal's nose, she looked up at Ezra questioningly.

"He was hurt a long time ago." Ezra said. "By a darksider."

The wolf let out a snort at the word, then nuzzled into her hand, before finally standing up again. The creature looked into Ezra's eyes deeply, as if imparting some kind of wisdom, then it turned and began to walk back into the grass-vanishing as quickly as it had come.

Ezra reassembled each blade with the cleansed crystals. He turned each of them on, and they glowed brilliant white. "We'll take these into the caves tomorrow. Perhaps we can lay them to rest there."

They all stood and Ezra placed a hand upon each teen's shoulder. "You did well tonight. The visit from the Loth-wolf was evidence of that. We'll leave for the caves at first light." With those words, he shepherded them to the front porch where Hera and Sabine waited for them.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi, everyone. Hope you like the new chapter. I will have a stand alone story coming out on Wednesday or Thursday, so keep your eyes open for that. I hope you have a great holiday season! Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter. We should have one, maybe two chapters left and this part of the story will be over!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"I'll be here when you come out." Sabine spoke softly as Ezra pulled her close. They stood forehead to forehead a moment before he leaned in and kissed her.

"It could be a while…I'm not exactly sure." Ezra replied as he took a step back, still holding her hand.

"Yeah, I know the Force runs on its own timetable. If it's more than a day though, I'm coming in after you." Sabine said.

Ezra nodded at that, turning to the two kids behind them. "Ready?"

Caleb and Phaedra nodded, and Ezra gestured to the rocky path in front of them that led up the hillside to the cave entrance. The two teens began the climb.

"I love you." Ezra said, looking back at Sabine.

"I know," she grinned. "Love you too. Now go—"

Ezra let her hand drop, grabbed his pack to shoulder it and turned to the path. In a minute, he was gone and Sabine couldn't see him at all.

* * *

Phaedra and Caleb looked around nervously as they made their way down a rough staircase cut into the side wall of a great chamber. They'd followed the path through the caves into a stone room, and then through several passages until they'd reached another huge open chamber.

She turned, holding out the white saber so that she could see the area around them. The floor was smooth rock with occasional pebbles crunching under her feet. Ezra and Caleb were using their own lightsabers to cast a glow around them. Caleb was setting out glow rods and made his way towards her, disengaging his saber.

In the light, the room seemed to be full of stars. Phae's eyes widened as she looked around, disoriented. Caleb reached for her free hand. "It's the kyber crystals glittering in the ceiling and walls, Phae."

"I thought…it looked like space." She extinguished her blade, since there was now enough light to see.

"I know." Caleb nodded. "Me too." They looked around, enjoying the effect. Caleb's eyes rested back on Phaedra. Her eyes were glimmering with the reflected light in the cave, and once more he was struck by her beauty. There seemed to be a curve to her lips that he'd never noticed before, he thought as she brought her eyes back to his own.

"What?" she asked, and he was amused as her mouth curved in a smile.

As an answer he kissed her. It was simple, just a brush of the lips together, the merest ghost of her breath on his skin before he leaned back, making sure he'd done it right.

"Nice," she breathed, her eyes searching his face.

He grinned cheekily as he realized he'd done it right after all. Then he remembered they were not the only two in the cave, and he looked around self-consciously for Ezra.

His master was standing in the middle of the room, his hands on something that glimmered. His head was downcast and his Force signature radiated a quiet, subdued sorrow. A furrow appeared on Caleb's brow. He glanced at Phae, and she motioned for him to go as she followed.

They drew closer, both of them now sensing a somberness in the air. "Master?" Caleb murmured. "Are you okay?"

Ezra nodded slowly, turning to face his padawan. "I am. I have something to tell you."

Caleb let Phae's hand slip from his own as he stepped forward. Ezra reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Your father. I never told you how he died…We usually only talk about how he lived."

"I…I know it's difficult for you all to talk about." Caleb said.

"I wanted to wait for you to be ready to hear, and now…you are." Ezra said, placing a gentle hand on the teen's head before reaching down to take Caleb's hand place it, palm side down, on the huge kyber crystal before them.

A small green spark began to glow in the heart of the fractured crystal. Caleb realized that it was the largest kyber crystal he'd ever seen. "What does this mean…"

"This room…this spot is where your father passed into the Force."

Caleb's startled eyes lifted from the green light to Ezra's face. "Was it…a redblade that killed him?"

Ezra shook his head. "Your father used this crystal to save Lothal. He placed his hands on it and used the Force to cause the green shockwave that disabled the Imperial's weapons, but…it had a high price. Saving Lothal cost him his life. He simply…vanished from the very spot you were in. He became one with the Force here where we stand."

Caleb shook his head in shock, his hands sliding away from the crystal's smooth surface. "Wait…are you saying using the Force killed him?"

"No." Ezra laid a hand on his shoulder. "Kanan made a choice to trust the Force, and do what was required to save Lothal. He trusted that I…Sabine and Zeb would rescue your mom and raise you to be the best you could be."

"I don't understand…" Caleb's eyes searched Ezra's.

"Caleb, a Jedi is called upon to serve a purpose greater than himself. We serve the will of the Force. Kanan learned that from Master Billaba, just as I learned it from Kanan. A Jedi has to be able to let go for the greater good. Being selfish and holding onto us all would have been the wrong kind of attachment. It would have led Kanan to the dark side. So, like a Jedi, he chose the path of light, even though it was the most difficult path of all."

"You…you know this for sure?" Caleb's head was bowed and there was a tremble in his lekku that told Ezra all he needed to know.

"Yes." The Jedi reached out and enfolded Caleb in his arms as the kid began to cry. "Let it go into the Force." He murmured into Caleb's hair. He glanced over Caleb's head to see Phaedra wiping her own tears away, and so he held out his other arm and she came to them, joining the hug.

They remained that way for a long time, until both kids had composed themselves.

"Sit here." He gestured to the hallowed ground around them.

They all sat. Strangely, letting out their emotions seemed to settle both teens' minds; Ezra could feel calmness radiating from them. "Close your eyes. Do not focus your mind on what you want from the Force. Empty your mind and the Force will be able to fill you, flow through you and make its will known."

Caleb and Phaedra closed their eyes and felt the pulse of the Force around them, flooding into them through their contact with the cave floor. It was a current of liquid light that swept both of them away immediately.

Ezra watched them in the semi-darkness and hoped they would find what they needed within the warm Force-tide.

* * *

Phaedra felt the air change around her; it slowly grew warm. She opened her eyes to find herself in a completely different room. This one was lit with blue and green crystals set into the walls. The floor was covered in blue and green decorative tiles.

She turned around, looking for a door; she realized pretty quickly there wasn't one. Her eyes widened as she heard a noise behind her. She turned.

The spiky haired young man that she'd seen at Hera's side—Caleb's father-was now sitting on the floor meditating. There were the scattered remains of dried rose petals on the floor that she hadn't noticed before. As she approached, they crunched under her feet and sent up a heavy, spicy fragrance.

She watched Kanan Jarrus warily. How could someone be so incredibly still, she wondered? The man sat, hands clasped the way Ezra had instructed her to do for deep meditation.

She was leaning in, trying to see if perhaps this was some intricately painted statue or if it was an actual real person when the man's blue-green eyes opened.

She gasped and jumped back.

"Don't be frightened," he said, an amused smile on his features.

"I…I'm not," she said defensively.

He nodded as if it wasn't important. "You know who I am, don't you—Phaedra Alata?"

"I…I think so. You're Caleb's f-father. Kanan Jarrus."

He nodded, getting to his feet. "We have much to talk about."

"O-okay." She nodded, almost afraid of him. However, the gleam she saw in his eyes, the look of mild amusement, reminded her so much of Caleb that her worries faded away.

"Take my hand." He held it out, and she complied immediately. She was surprised to feel that his skin was as warm as her own. They turned and she saw a circle carved into the wall, surrounded by strange runes that she didn't understand. As Kanan leaned forward, he brushed the wall with his fingers on three different places. He touched a Loth-wolf, a Loth-cat and then the circle itself.

And Phaedra's eyes went wide as the circle began to move. The Jedi placed his free hand on the wall and it went through. Phaedra froze. "Come on." He looked at her and gave a gentle chuckle. "I've got you."

Together, they stepped through the portal.

* * *

Voices spun through the air, coming close then moving far away and becoming impossible to hear. Phae opened her eyes and looked around.

She was on a path through a field of stars—one path out of many. "Woah," she said, seeing endless paths tracking through the darkness around them. The darkness was almost alive, with the voices of many different people. She thought she heard her mother's voice and turned to see Kanan standing nearby.

"Where is this?"

"A world between worlds," he said softly. "Here there are doorways to many places, and many times." He watched her as she approached the nearest portal. "This is a door to the past, Phae. You wished to see your mother."

Phae looked intently at the scene in front of her. Through the portal, clearly visible, was her mother. She was kneeling and an older man in Jedi robes was approaching her with a lightsaber. "Oh no!" She cried, reaching out a hand toward the surface of the portal.

A hand on her shoulder restrained her. "This is the past, when your mother became a Jedi Knight." They watched as the man moved his saber from one side of the woman's shoulder to the other and back.

Phaedra put a hand to her mouth. Her mom was so young. She had the same long blonde hair, caught back in a thick braid. "What…what's he doing now?" She watched as the Jedi lifted a smaller braid, behind her mother's right ear.

"That's her Padawan braid." Kanan said softly. "It is a mark of all her experiences as a padawan through the years of her training. It is typically shorn when one becomes a Knight."

"Is that…did that happen to you?"

The voices that had never stopped speaking grew a little louder.

_Caleb we can not win this battle…you must run._

_Do or do not, there is no try._

The voices ebbed and were quiet.

Kanan bowed his head and let out a great sigh. "No, my child. My master was murdered by her own soldiers. So, I cut my own Padawan braid."

Phaedra's eyes grew sad as she looked back at her mother, holding her Padawan braid in her hands and looking down. The portal went dark.

Phaedra surged forward. "No!" The portal was a swirl of murky greys. She turned to Kanan. "Can…can I talk to her?" Phaedra asked. "Please…"

Kanan's face grew serious and sad. "She has passed on into the Force, little one. I am sorry."

"But you're here…" she murmured.

"Most Jedi do not retain individuality after death. I…cannot tell you why some do and others do not. It is a mystery of the Force." Phaedra wiped at her tears, and the tall Jedi beside her laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What is it you wish to know, future Padawan?"

Her eyes gleamed as she looked up. "I….will I…should I become a Jedi like my mother? Will Ezra be my teacher?"

"This is the decision before you. Walk with me."

Caleb's father made his way along to another portal. This portal seemed to be made out of black wood, gnarled and twisted into knots. They looked in and a red glow turned into an image. A man. The silver on his helmet gleamed in the reddish light as he knelt in meditation, fists clenched tightly.

"Who is this?" Phaedra asked.

"This is the dark side rising again." Kanan turned his eyes away. "It is just one possible view of the future that may or may not come to pass, youngling."

"It's bad isn't it?" She looked at the figure through the portal and could feel the pounding waves of fear, pain and anger through the Force. Her stomach clenched in a knot.

Kanan reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, and those feelings faded. "If it happens, the children of the Force need to be ready."

"Children of the Force?"

"Those such as you, Caleb, Ezra…" Kanan said. "Your gift is a rare one. There are not many left that know or even understand the art of Force healing." The image in the portal faded. He gestured for Phaedra to return to the path and continue to walk with him.

"I didn't even know I could do it."

"But you were wise enough to allow the Force to guide you. With the right guide, it will continue to do so." Kanan continued walking with her until they approached a silver portal. In the portal, she saw an older man, kneeling like the darksider had been, but surrounded by younglings and Padawans of all ages.

She was struck by the gentle look in the man's blue eyes. "Who is he?"

"Luke Skywalker. He has searched out much lost Jedi knowledge. He will teach many the ways of the Force, but the future is…unclear…"

Phae felt the Force pulling her toward the blond man in some way. "He could…train me to heal others?"

"Yes." Kanan nodded. "He has acquired much Jedi knowledge and he could lead you in the right direction."

"I…I feel as if I already know him." Phaedra said.

"Do you?" Kanan asked, the faintest touch of a smile on his lips.

"If I go, will I get the chance to…come back here with Caleb?"

"It is hard to say what will be in the Force. Caleb will find his way like you will find yours. Some paths lead you toward each other. Some paths lead away. Whatever happens, you will make your own future, Phaedra." Kanan placed a hand on her shoulder and the world shifted around them and they were in front of the original portal that showed Ezra meditating.

"The path of light is difficult." Phaedra said, thoughtfully.

"It can be. But often, you may find it's the easiest path of all," Kanan said, pleased. He extended his hand and there was a brilliant golden crystal shining in his palm. "This is yours, child. May the Force be with you, Phaedra."

She took it. "And with you, Master Jarrus." He helped her step through the portal, and then she was on the other side. Alone.

And a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She took one, then two steps and fell to her knees.

"Phae?" Ezra's eyes opened and he came to her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Just tired."

Ezra nodded. "I know that tiredness." He helped her to her feet and helped her make her way to the kyber crystal. He rested her back against it. "Sit. Rest a little."

She opened her hand and looked up at Ezra in the light of the golden crystal. "I know what I'm supposed to do now…I know what path I should take."

* * *

Caleb was meditating when a change "awakened" him from his trance. He was sitting on a dark grassy plain. A cold wind blew his hair away from his face and his nose prickled with the scent of petrichor and burning as the grass whispered. He scrambled to his feet and immediately felt a presence behind him. He drew both sabers, turned and saw a figure in dark robes.

"Who are you?" He asked, scrambling to his feet.

"I'm you." Sick yellow eyes burned from within the depths of the hood. Whoever it was was older than Caleb was, because the shoulders were wider and the stranger was taller.

"I will never turn to the dark side!" Caleb said automatically, taking two or three steps back.

"You're a fool. There will be loss. Terrible loss, and you will crumble." The figure looked him up and down. "You are weak." The hooded man held out a hand and Force-threw Caleb to the ground, holding him there. "Let me tell you what will happen to you. You will follow the light and you will lose everything dear to you. Ezra, Sabine, Phaedra. And your mother. Then you will know the power of the dark side and you will understand what a fool you've been." He pointed and a shaft of sunlight illuminated Hera, lying in the dry grass near them. She'd obviously fallen in battle, a blaster in her hand. There was a burned bloody hole in her chest and her green eyes were lifeless.

"You love her too much."

Caleb felt as if he were losing his mind. To see his mom dead again, just like before, tore at something inside of him. "No." Tears began to stream down his face. "Not again…" he whispered.

"Feel that pain. Use that pain to become strong," the voice whispered beside his ear as the man drew close.

"No!" Caleb whirled, pushing the man away with the Force. The world seemed to whirl about them as he watched the darksider get to his feet, throw back his hood and draw two red lightsabers.

He was looking at his doppleganger, but an older one in his twenties, face ravaged by evil, and yellow eyes full of triumph.

"You have a lot of anger. Use it." The darksider settled his sabers into an opening position. "Only one of us will leave this place, Caleb Jarrus."

"Lies!" Caleb replied, readying his sabers for the first attack.

They fought as the storm surged around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you are still enjoying the story. There is so little to go for this story to end and part three to begin.
> 
> Will Caleb be strong enough to fight the possessive love he holds for his loved ones? Will Phaedra choose to go study at Luke's school? Only time will tell. Seriously, though I hope you are liking the turn to the story! Let me hear from you.
> 
> Have a great start to the new year!


End file.
